Spy balloon – live: US was tracking Chinese balloon for almost a week before it entered American airspace

The US had been tracking the Chinese spy balloon ever since it left Hainan Island near China’s south coast – meaning it was under surveillance for almost a week before it entered American airspace, according to unnamed officials.

The spy balloon was ultimately shot down by the US military on 4 February and officials have been retrieving debris from the Atlantic Ocean for analysis.

But, The Washington Post has now reported that US intelligence agencies were monitoring the balloon as soon as it left its base on Hainan Island and began charting its flight path to the US territory of Guam.

The craft veered off course along the route, taking it over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Canada and Montana, before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Officials told the paper they are exploring the possibility that it was indeed an accident for China to fly over North American airspace.

The revelation comes as the White House announced on Tuesday that the three other objects shot down by American fighter jets were likely used for commercial or other “benign” purposes.

Key points

• ‘Leading’ theory is objects are commercial craft or ‘benign’, White House says

• Republicans use balloon incident to attack Biden as they call on president to hold national address

• US military says it has recovered ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon

• China accuses US of ‘illegally’ flying spy balloons into airspace

• US military takes down fourth object in a month – this time above Lake Huron

US tracked Chinese spy balloon since it left Hainan Island – meaning it was under surveillance for week before entering airspace

11:31 , Rachel Sharp

The US had been tracking the Chinese spy balloon ever since it left Hainan Island near China’s south coast – meaning it was under surveillance for almost a week before it entered American airspace, according to unnamed officials.

The spy balloon was ultimately shot down by the US military on 4 February and officials have been retrieving debris from the Atlantic Ocean for analysis.

But, The Washington Post has now reported that US intelligence agencies were monitoring the balloon as soon as it left its base on Hainan Island and began charting its flight path to the US territory of Guam.

The craft veered off course along the route, taking it over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Canada and Montana, before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Officials told the paper they are exploring the possibility that it was indeed an accident for China to fly over North American airspace.

Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?

11:00 , Alex Woodward

A massive surveillance balloon that drifted across the US before it was shot down by an American fighter jet is believed to be part of a Chinese military fleet of similar intelligence-gathering aircrafts.

But military and White House officials say there is no indication that three smaller unidentified “objects” that were shot down above North American airspace in as many days are part of the same program, and may not have come from China at all.

The balloon’s intrusion into North American airspace was likely one of several from similar aircrafts in recent years, including three sightings during President Donald Trump’s administration, a revelation that has prompted the military to begin filtering in all kinds of other aerial objects on its radars.

The US military has reportedly widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, with officials comparing their expanded radar search to search filters a prospective car buyer would use to broaden the parameters to find what they’re looking for.

While the White House tries to tamp down on baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, other US officials and members of Congress, who have received several classified briefings and testimony about the intrusion, continue to suggest that the other objects came from China.

Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?

UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now

10:00 , Alex Woodward

In the decades after the Roswell incdient, the world has seen a growing interest in UFOs, and where they might have come from. And sceptics have long argued that rather than being any new technology – either of this Earth or another planet entirely – many of those sightings might indeed be weather balloons.

It is fitting, then, that the latest excitement has been prompted by what appear to be observation balloons of some kind, though that is still unconfirmed. And that official secrecy, too, is in keeping with the mystery that has surrounded those objects ever since that material fell to Earth in the New Mexico desert.

The Independent’s Andrew Griffin reports:

UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now

Here is everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

09:00 , Alex Woodward

Four objects were shot down by US Air Force fighter jets within eight days across North America.

After an F-22 struck down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February, US military discovered three other objects in North American airspace within as many days.

An unidentified object was brought down on 11 February above Alaskan waters. The following day, an American F-22 fighter shot down a “small” and “cylindrical” object hovering 40,000 feet above Canada. One day later, US officials announced a third “object” was shot out of the sky above Lake Huron near Michigan.

What are they, why are we suddenly seeing them, and why did the US shoot them down?

We answer it all, with everything we know, so far:

Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11

08:00 , Alex Woodward

US military officials contend that it was safer for American fighter jets to shoot down the massive balloon once it crossed into accessible waters rather than shoot it out of the sky while it was potentially a risk to people and buildings below.

But during an event in Idaho over the weekend, far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.

She compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner, one of four aircraft hijacked on 9/11. Passengers prevented hijackers from reaching their target in Washington DC by downing the craft in a field, killing all on board.

Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11

First F-16 missile strike at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm

07:00 , Alex Woodward

The first missile fired by an American F-16 fighter jet in an attempt to take down an unidentified flying object over Lake Huron missed its target.

US officials confirmed on 14 February that the object - the third spotted above North American airspace in as many days - was taken down with a second shot when it appeared above the lake on 12 February. The first shot landed in the waters straddling the state of Michigan and the Ontario province of Canada.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed the incident in separate briefings with reporters.

First F-16 missile at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm

Senate intelligence chair tells The Independent that US needs a better reporting system for knowing what’s in the sky

06:00 , Alex Woodward and Eric Garcia

Democratic US Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that Americans will have “more information” about the objects that were shot down above North American airspace in the recent days once that debris is collected.

But the US “needs to acknowledge” that “there is not a good reporting system in place that if you’re a weather balloon or commercial balloon or some other kind of activity, you just don’t have that kind of visibility,” he told The Independent on Tuesday.

Mr Warner’s remarks followed classified closed-door briefings with lawmakers at the Capitol on Tuesday to learn more about the objects that were shot down by US Air Force fighter jets over Alaska, the Yukon territory of Canada and Lake Huron in Michigan.

Object over Lake Huron likely passed by sensitive military sites and posed surveillance threat, Pentagon says

05:00 , Alex Woodward

A statement from the US Department of Defense on Sunday evening reported that President Joe Biden acted on guidance from military officials to shoot down the object that was flying at about 20,000 feet above Lake Huron.

Officials also confirmed that the object was likely the same that was picked up as a radar anomaly over Montana on Saturday night, when the object was “in proximity to sensitive [Department of Defense] sites,” the statement said.

“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” it continued.

NORAD tracked the object on Sunday morning, and an F-16 jet fired a single Sidewinder missile at about 2.24pm ET.

“Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation,” according to the statement.

Taking it down over the lake avoided “impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery,” the Pentagon said.

“There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected,” the statement added.

Federal agencies are now working to recover the debris.

ICYMI: Chinese satellite fires green laser beams over Hawaii

04:00 , Alex Woodward

Astronomers reported that a Chinese satellite fired green laser beams over the US state of Hawaii during mounting between Beijing and Washignton after several foreign objects including a Chinese spy balloon were shot down over the US in recent days.

Scientists at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan captured the mystery beams of light on video through its Subaru-Asahi Star Camera on Mauna Kea back on 28 January.

Footage of the incident shows green laser light beaming over the cloudy sky over Maunakea in Hawaii.

Chinese satellite fires green laser beams over Hawaii

US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon

03:00 , Alex Woodward

US Northern Command reports that crews working at the site of the shot-down Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina “have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure.”

US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon

The planes and weapons that brought down objects in North American airspace

02:00 , Alex Woodward

Two F-22 Raptor fighter jets flew out ofJoint Base Elmendorf in Alaska to take down the unidentified “object” above Alaskan airspace on Friday.

One missile – an AIM-9X Sidewinder – was fired, according to the Pentagon.

Several military planes and helicopters are assisting in the recovery operation.

The military deployed two kinds of helicopters – the HH-60 Pave Hawk and CH-47 Chinook – as well as the HC-130 search-and-rescue plane.

Two F-22 jets tracked another object across Alaska as it entered Canada on Saturday. Canadian CF-18 fighters and CP-140 maritime patrol craft joined the operation. The American jet fired a single Sidewinder missile, bringing the object down roughly 100 miles from the US-Canada border in Canadian territory in central Yukon.

Canada’s defense minister Anita Anand said the operation is likely the first using NORAD to shoot down an object in Canadian airspace.

The following day, two F-16 fighter jets were deployed above Lake Huron in Michigan. A Sidewinder missile was fired but missed, according to military officials and the White House. The missile reportedly landed on the lake. A second missile struck the object.

John Kirby: Recovering shot-down debris will take ‘some time'

01:00 , Alex Woodward

It could take “some time” before the US recovers materials from several downed objects shot down above US airspace in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.

Recovery operations are underway off the coast of South Carolina to recover critical materials from the Chinese surveillance balloon, and authorities also are recovering debris from two shot-down objects in Alaskan waters and in Lake Hurson. Canadian authorities also are recovering debris from an object shot down by an American fighter jet in the Yukon territory on Saturday.

“We’re dealing with some pretty tough conditions,” Mr Kirby said. “Lake Huron, which is not a shallow lake and the Yukon wilderness well as sea ice north of the coast of North Alaska ... Even even off the coast of South Carolina when we have been able to take debris up off the bottom ... So we’re up against it when it comes to to just the weather and the general geographic issues.”

He said investigators are doing to “keep at it” in the meantime.

“We’re going to try to get the as much debris as we can because we know that that’s the best way for us to do the forensics on, on these on these objects,” he added.

He stressed that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”

Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?

00:00 , Alex Woodward

A massive surveillance balloon that drifted across the US before it was shot down by an American fighter jet is believed to be part of a Chinese military fleet of similar intelligence-gathering aircrafts.

But military and White House officials say there is no indication that three smaller unidentified “objects” that were shot down above North American airspace in as many days are part of the same program, and may not have come from China at all.

The balloon’s intrusion into North American airspace was likely one of several from similar aircrafts in recent years, including three sightings during President Donald Trump’s administration, a revelation that has prompted the military to begin filtering in all kinds of other aerial objects on its radars.

The US military has reportedly widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, with officials comparing their expanded radar search to search filters a prospective car buyer would use to broaden the parameters to find what they’re looking for.

While the White House tries to tamp down on baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, other US officials and members of Congress, who have received several classified briefings and testimony about the intrusion, continue to suggest that the other objects came from China.

Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?

China calls Ohio train crash OhioChernobyl as it mocks US for caring too much about spy balloon

Tuesday 14 February 2023 23:30 , Alex Woodward

The Chinese foreign ministry mocked the United States on Tuesday for its concerns over an alleged Chinese spy balloon while a toxic chemical leak from a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio threatens to become one of the most damaging environmental disasters in the country’s history.

Abe Asher reports:

China mocks US for focusing spy balloon during train derailment

Jon Tester will lead Senate probe into flying objects

Tuesday 14 February 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward and Eric Garcia

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Montana Senator Jon Tester will lead probes into the objects that were shot down over North American airspace in recent days.

The senator led a panel last week to hear from military officials about the ballon that was spotted above his home state near sensitive military sites.

“We still have questions about why they didn’t discover these balloons sooner, these objects sooner,” Mr Schumer said on Tuesday. “Senator Tester is going to lead our caucus in investigating this.”

Mr Tester said on Sunday that the Biden administration and US military need to “have a policy” about unidentified objects in US airspace to recommend to the president to swiftly handle any future incursions.

“What’s been going on the last … 10 days has been nothing short of craziness,” he told CBS Face the Nation. “The military needs to have a plan to not only determine what’s out there, but determine the dangers that go with it.”

Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham ‘reassured’ after briefings on objects

Tuesday 14 February 2023 22:39 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Mitt Romney said the recently shot-down objects above North American airspace are “not very high on my worry chart” following closed-door briefings with lawmakers on Tuesday.

“The reality is we don’t know a lot about what these items are, yet,” he said.

Mr Romney also told CNN that “there a lot of these things that are up in the air from time to time, some commercial, some government and maybe there’s some things we don’t know,” adding he wasn’t worried “in the slightest” over whether the objects posed any threats.

Senator Lindsey Graham also told ITV that he is not “unnerved” after he participated in classified briefings with other members of Congress.

“I didn’t hear anything in there that unnerved me,” he said.

‘Leading’ theory is objects are commercial craft or ‘benign’, White House says

Tuesday 14 February 2023 22:09 , Alex Woodward

White House National Security Council strategic communication coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the “leading” theory behind the three recently shot-down objects are they were used for commercial or other “benign” purposes.

“The intelligence community’s considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose,” he said.

Officials have ruled out that the objects are government vessels, and intelligence suggests they are not linked to China, he said.

“We don’t know of any evidence right now that that confirms that they were in fact doing intelligence collection by another government,” he said.

Republican senators use balloon incident to attack Biden as they call on president to hold national address

Tuesday 14 February 2023 21:05 , Alex Woodward

Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana characterised the Biden administration’s decision to wait to shoot down the surveillance balloon as a “weakness” and “indecision”, though the president initally ordered the US military to do so at first sight.

Military officials, who claimed to have blocked any intelligence-gathering capabilities and said that the balloon posed no physical threat, advised against shooting it down until it was clear of people and buildings below, and so that the materials from the balloon could be recovered and investigated.

Those decisions and likely many others were shared with lawmakers over a series of hearings, including closed-door classified briefings, but Republican senators have not shared what they learned, instead using the incident as ammunition for their attacks on the administration and its policies regarding China.

GOP leader Mitch McConnell and Mr Daines have urged the president to hold a national address to speak on the issue.

Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11

Tuesday 14 February 2023 21:00 , Alex Woodward

US military officials contend that it was safer for American fighter jets to shoot down the massive balloon once it crossed into accessible waters rather than shoot it out of the sky while it was potentially a risk to people and buildings below.

But during an event in Idaho over the weekend, Marjorie Taylor Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.

She then compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner, one of four aircraft hijacked on 9/11. Passengers prevented hijackers from reaching their target in Washington DC by downing the craft in a field, killing all on board.

Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11

Mitch McConnell: ‘The American people deserve to hear more from the president’ on balloons

Tuesday 14 February 2023 20:52 , Alex Woodward

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that the president “basically” was “watching the balloon go all across America” earlier this month, making only a “passing reference” to the aircraft, which he ordered to shoot down, in State of the Union address

The GOP leader tied the balloon event to a series of foreign policy decisions under President Biden, including the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

“The American people deserve to hear more from the president on all of these issues,” he said.

Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso called the balloon incident a “majority security breach,” refuting characterisations from the Pentagon and the White House that the balloon did not pose any intelligence or physical threat.

China mocks America’s balloon obsession while seemingly ignoring Ohio

Tuesday 14 February 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying mocked America’s scrutiny into the suspected surveillance balloon, accusing the nation of ignoring the threats posed by the train derailment in Ohio that has sparked widespread contamination fears, with Hua Chunying comparing it to the disaster at Chernobyl.

“Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl,” she wrote on Twitter.

The Independent is covering the Ohio disaster here:

Ohio train derailment puts millions at risk as toxic chemicals enter river

Senate intelligence chair tells The Independent that US needs a better reporting system for knowing what’s in the sky

Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:40 , Eric Garcia and Alex Woodward

Democratic US Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that Americans will have “more information” about the objects that were shot down above North American airspace over the last several days once the debris is collected.

But the US “needs to acknolwdge” that “there is not a good reporting system in place that if you're a weather balloon or commercial balloon or some other kind of activity, you just don't have that kind of visibility,” Mr Warner told The Independent on Tuesday.

His remarks, echoing earlier statements, follow closed-door briefings with lawmakers to learn more about the objects that were shot down by the military.

Lisa Murkowski tells The Independent that administration’s lack of answers and ‘honest unknowns’ is ‘frustrating’

Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:35 , Eric Garcia and Alex Woodward

Republican US Senator Lisa Murskowski was furious with military officials during a Senate hearing last week as she grilled defense chiefs about the surveillance balloon that flew into the US from her home state of Alaska and was allowed to travel across the US.

She told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that senators are “still waiting to really understand the origin, the nature of these objects” – two of which also flew in across her state before they were shot down. One was shot down in Alaskan waters.

While the US has had some success recovering materials from the downed balloon off the South Carolina coast, “we’re still in search of the debris from the other areas.”

“I’m very anxious to know more about that,” she said.

“It’s frustrating,” she added, with “a lot of outstanding questions” after several briefings, including classified briefings with administration officials, with answers that are “frustratingly opaque” or provide little more than “honest unknowns”.

Marjorie Taylor Greene compares balloon to 9/11

Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward

Far-right Georgia US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene drew a wild comparison between the Chinese surveillance balloon and United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 11 September, 2001.

Military officials contend that it was safer – with a better chance of recovering crucial components – for the US to shoot down the balloon once it crossed into accessible waters, rather than shoot it out over the sky above people and buildings.

During an event in Idaho over the weekend, Ms Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon and military officials “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.

She compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner that crashed on 9/11.

“Remember that? It didn’t kill anybody on the ground. Killed everyone on board. But it didn’t kill anyone on the ground,” Ms Greene said. “So they want to tell all of us that it was too risky to take down that Chinese spy balloon over rural Idaho or Montana, or any of these other states, or Alaska? They’re liars.”

She suggested that President Joe Biden deliberately kept the balloon above US airspace because he “sold out to China.”

“You can only see it two ways,” she said, offering up three. “Either they’re liars or they’re cowards or our president is sold out to China. You know what? I’ll go with all three.”

UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now

Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:20 , Alex Woodward

In 1947, scraps of rubber and metal found in Roswell, New Mexico arguably began the hunt for UFOs and alien life on our planet. That collection of debris was officially from a downed weather balloon – but that official explanation has not satisfied the many who claim that it was the remains of something not of this world.

Nearly 80 years later, a balloon has kicked off another round of fears and excitement about alien invasion.

In the decades since those events in Roswell, the world has seen a growing interest in UFOs, and where they might have come from. And sceptics have long argued that rather than being any new technology – either of this Earth or another planet entirely – many of those sightings might indeed be weather balloons.

The Independent’s Andrew Griffin writes:

UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now

Search interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial life has exploded with the latest aerial objects and White House comments

Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Google search interest in “what is in the sky” is at an all-time high in the US, and Americans asking if “aliens are real” has more than tripled within the past day, after the White House rejected claims that extraterrestial life forms are responsible for a series of unidentified objects shot down by American fighter jets.

The administration’s own discussion of the topic has inflamed baseless speculation and fuelled conspiracy theories, as officials and experts contend that there is no evidence to support that the objects came from China or another planet, but could more likely to be another kind of aircraft caught up in a broadening radar scope after the Chinese surveillance balloon incident.

But search interest in the US for “extraterrestrial life” is eight times greater than that of “surveillance” over the past day. The most-asked questions are related to shooting down UFOS, how many there are, what aliens are, and what UFO means.

(Unidentified flying object, by the way.)

Senate intelligence committee chair wants ‘more aggressive’ system for tracking civilian crafts in airspace

Tuesday 14 February 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the US needs a better system for keeping track of objects in US airspace.

“My hope would be that we are much more aggressive about trying to make sure that objects are up there for legitimate scientific, weather or other purposes and that there is a much better notification process with authorities,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Members of Congress received closed-door briefings on the latest objects shot down by American fighter jets on Tuesday.

Watch: Mark Milley confirms F-16 missed Lake Huron object

Tuesday 14 February 2023 18:00 , Alex Woodward

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed on Tuesday that a missile fired by an F-16 fighter jet aimed at an object over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday missed the target. A second missile successfully brought it down.

He said the first missile “landed harmlessly in the water”.

Top Democrat on House Armed Services Committee claims China ‘almost certainly’ responsible for objects

Tuesday 14 February 2023 17:30 , Alex Woodward

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee alleged that China “almost certainly” launched the three objects shot down by American fighter jets, though the White House, Pentagon officials and intelligence analysts have not yet made any such definitive answers about their origin.

US Rep Adam Smith told USA Today that the objects are “almost certainly a case of the Chinese trying to come up with new or creative ways to spy on us.”

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”

Mr Smith said the US needs to “respond and block this avenue” but stressed that global surveillance efforts between world powers are nothing new.

“It’s not like they’re learning some deep dark secret that makes us extra vulnerable here,” he added. “We definitely want to stop them from doing it, as we want to try and stop all efforts of surveillance on the US by China or anybody else for that matter. But, no, I don’t think it’s something that the American public needs to worry a great deal about.”

US military has not yet recovered debris from downed objects

Tuesday 14 February 2023 17:01 , Alex Woodward

While crews have recovered “significant debris” from the Chinese surveillance balloons, recovery operations that began this weekend for the other three downed objects have so far yielded nothing.

“Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” the US military’s Northern Command said in a statement on Monday.

On Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson told reporters that recovery teams are “dealing with some pretty tough conditions” on Lake Huron and in the frozen seas near Alaska.

US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon

Everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

Tuesday 14 February 2023 16:30 , Alex Woodward

For three days in a row, US military fighter jets brought down similar high-altitude objects, all within a week after a large airship, allegedly sent by China to spy on the US mainland, seized the national news agenda.

This is everything we know, so far:

Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes

Full story: First F-16 missile strike at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm

Tuesday 14 February 2023 16:00 , Alex Woodward

In separate briefings with reporters on Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed that it took two attempts to take down unidentified object above Lake Huron on Sunday.

First F-16 missile at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm

John Kirby: ‘Could be some time’ before US recovers debris from shot-down objects

Tuesday 14 February 2023 15:33 , Alex Woodward

It could take “some time” before the US recovers materials from several downed objects shot down above US airspace in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.

Recovery operations are underway off the coast of South Carolina to recover critical materials from the Chinese surveillance balloon, and authorities also are recovering debris from two shot-down objects in Alaskan waters and in Lake Hurson. Canadian authorities also are recovering debris from an object shot down by an American fighter jet in the Yukon territory on Saturday.

“We're dealing with some pretty tough conditions,” Mr Kirby said. “Lake Huron, which is not a shallow lake and the Yukon wilderness well as sea ice north of the coast of North Alaska ... Even even off the coast of South Carolina when we have been able to take debris up off the bottom ... So we're up against it when it comes to to just the weather and the general geographic issues.”

He said investigators are doing to “keep at it” in the meantime.

“We're going to try to get the as much debris as we can because we know that that's the best way for us to do the forensics on, on these on these objects,” he added.

He stressed that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”

Milley: F-16 missed object over Lake Huron with first shot

Tuesday 14 February 2023 15:25 , Alex Woodward

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley told reporters on Tuesday that the F-16 jet that brought down an object over Lake Huron on Sunday missed the first time.

The object was shot down with a second shot, he said during a briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Brussels.

Just in: Romania spots balloon-like craft in airspace

Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:39 , Alex Woodward

The Romanian Air Force’s surveillance system detected an airborne object that looked like a weather balloon flying in the country’s airspace, Romania’s defense ministry announced on Tuesday.

The balloon-like craft was reportedly flying at about 11,000 meters, or roughly 37,000 feet, though two MiG jets scrambled in southeast Romania 10 minutes after the sighting could not confirm the target, according to Reuters.

Trump’s secretary of state claims latest balloon incidents brought ‘global shame’ to the US

Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:32 , Alex Woodward

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is reportedly mulling entry in the 2024 presidential race, said that the Biden administration “made an enormous mistake” that caused “global shame” with its handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon.

As it traveled across the US earlier this month, it created an “an enormous geopolitical advantage” for China, he told The Hill during an interview promoting his memoir.

“I can’t imagine that the risk of some falling debris over a place like Montana exceeded the risk of global shame,” he added.

Mr Pompeo conceded that he does not know what information, if any, it collected or what intelligence it had or what imagery it captured.

Justin Trudeau suggests ‘pattern’ between objects shot down

Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:00 , Graig Graziosi

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a “pattern” between the objects that were shot down over North America over the last several days.

“Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there - the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention,” he said.

Admiral John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, said he could not comment on the assertion, saying he was unfamiliar with Mr Trudeau’s statement.

He said the objects shot down over the last several days were unlike the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier in January. Mr Kirby also said the origins of the three objects shot down over North America are still currently unknown.

John Kirby says Chinese spy balloon program was operational during Trump administration, but they ‘did not detect it’

Tuesday 14 February 2023 13:30 , Graig Graziosi

Admiral John Kirby, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, told reporters that a Chinese high altitude spy balloon program was known to defense officials during Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, but noted that his administration failed to detect the objects.

“...But we were able to determine that China has a high-altitude balloon program for intelligence collection that’s connected to the People’s Liberation Army,” he said. “It was operating during the previous administration, but they did not detect it.”

Mr Trump denied any balloons entered US airspace during his administration in a furious post on Truth Social.

“Now they are putting out that a Balloon was put up by China during the Trump Administration, in order to take the ‘heat’ off the slow moving Biden fools,” he wrote. “China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to have happened, and it NEVER did. JUST FAKE DISINFORMATION!”

Read more:

Biden White House says Trump’s team failed to detect Chinese army balloon programme