WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been noticed over U.S. airspace for a pair days, however the Pentagon determined to not shoot it down as a consequence of dangers of hurt for individuals on the bottom, officers mentioned Thursday.
A senior protection official instructed Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has “very high confidence” it’s a Chinese high-altitude balloon and it was flying over delicate websites to gather data. One of the locations the balloon was noticed was Montana, which is house to one of many nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The official spoke on situation of anonymity to debate delicate data.
Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, supplied a short assertion on the difficulty, saying the federal government continues to trace the balloon. He mentioned it’s “currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”
He mentioned related balloon exercise has been seen prior to now a number of years. He added that the U.S. took steps to make sure it didn’t accumulate delicate data.
The protection official mentioned the U.S. has “engaged” Chinese officers by means of a number of channels and communicated the seriousness of the matter.
The Pentagon announcement comes days earlier than Secretary of State Antony Blinken is predicted to journey to China. It’s not clear if this can have an effect on his journey plans, which the State Department has not formally introduced.
This is a creating story. Please examine again for updates.
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