The Chinese balloon shot down last week had crossed America on a spy mission, US officials confirm.
ADVERTISEMENTImages from U2 spy planes show the Chinese balloon that flew over the United States last week was unmistakably equipped for collecting intelligence and not weather data, an official said Thursday.
Detailed images taken by high-altitude U2s showed the balloon's payload equipment "was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons", the State Department official added.
Speaking on the grounds of anonymity, the official said "it was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the required power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors".
A US fighter jet shot the balloon down over the Atlantic on Saturday after it had crossed much of the country, overflying areas where the US keeps nuclear missiles in underground silos and bases with strategic bombers.
Chinese balloon
The incident led US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel an imminent trip to Beijing that had been long in planning and was aimed at improving communications between the two rival superpowers.
An official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, tasked with examining the balloon, said that so far only a "very small" part of the balloon's payload of spying and power electronics has been recovered.
"The evidence that has been recovered and brought to the FBI is extremely limited," the official said.
The FBI did not say whether the main payload pieces had been located but warned that looming bad weather could hinder the recovery.
Chinese People's Liberation Army
The State Department official indicated that the US believes the balloon was under the control of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is part of a fleet of balloons sent over more than 40 countries to collect intelligence information.
The official said the US was weighing taking action against Chinese entities linked to the balloon's operation, which suggests it might slap them with sanctions.
Earlier Thursday Beijing confirmed it refused an overture on Saturday by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for phone discussions with Chinese counterparts over the balloon issue.
"This irresponsible and seriously mistaken approach by the US did not create a proper atmosphere for dialogue and exchanges between the two militaries," China's defence ministry said in a statement.
In a Congressional hearing Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton defended the Pentagon's decision not to shoot the balloon down when it first entered US airspace over the waters of Alaska on 28 January.
Dalton said the cold and icy seas by Alaska, which plunge to around 5,486 metres in depth, would have made recovery much more difficult and "extremely dangerous".
As it flew over Alaska and northwest Canada, she said, "we continued to track and assess the balloon, learning more about (China's) capabilities and tradecraft".
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