Pentagon: Chinese Spy Balloon Didn’t Collect Info over US

By Staff, Agencies

The Pentagon claimed that “A Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down over the US in February did not collect information.”

“We assess that it did not collect while it was flying over the US,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said.

The balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before the US military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast on President Joe Biden's orders.

Earlier in April, US media citing senior officials reported that the balloon was able to obtain intelligence from several US military sites and transmit it back to Beijing in real-time.

These reports that were denied by China claimed that the balloon was able to make multiple passes over some of the sites, at times flying in a figure-eight formation. The incident sparked tensions between Washington and Beijing causing Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his visit to China.