By John Ikani
A Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the US earlier this year was reportedly able to gather intelligence from military bases for several days before being shot down, according to US officials cited by NBC News.
The balloon transmitted electronic signals in real-time to Beijing, rather than taking photographs, providing China with a valuable window into US military activities.
The White House has not confirmed the report, but US officials say they were able to limit the balloon’s intelligence-gathering abilities.
The FBI is currently examining the debris from the balloon.
While it is unclear which military installations the balloon hovered over, a defense department spokesperson has confirmed that the balloon was able to be maneuvered and purposely driven along its track.
“We’re still doing an assessment of what the intel was that China was able to gather but we do know that the steps that we took provided little additive value to what they’ve been able to collect from satellites before,” the spokesperson said.
US officials say that the balloon flew over Alaska and Canada before re-entering American airspace in early February.
Its presence was publicly acknowledged, setting off days of tracking and speculation.
The balloon was ultimately shot down off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February by a US fighter jet.
The incident led to a diplomatic row between the two countries and even caused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China.
In the weeks following the downing of the balloon, US fighter jets shot down several other balloons that they believed originated in China.
The US defense department has stated that China operates a fleet of balloons around the world.
