According to the US military reports, sensors have been found in the Atlantic Ocean from the first alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the US.
The US Northern Command said that search teams discovered “significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified.”
The goods, which according to the US were used to snoop on secret military installations, are being investigated by the FBI.
Since the first one was shot down on February 4th, the US has destroyed three more targets.
As per military officials, “large sections of the structure” were also found on Monday off the coast of South Carolina.
According to CBS, an American commercial broadcast television, the antenna array for the balloon, which extends about 30-40ft (9-12m), is among the things discovered.
China said the high-altitude balloon was a weather-monitoring airship that had gotten out of control, contrary to claims made by US officials that it was a surveillance balloon that originated in China.
Since that initial incident, US fighter jets have downed three additional high-altitude objects in as many days, above Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory, and Lake Huron on the US-Canada boundary.
According to US media, which cited military sources, the first Sidewinder missile fired by the US F-16 warplane during the Lake Huron attack missed its objective and exploded in an unidentified place. Reports state that the second missile successfully struck the objective.
Over $400,000 is spent on each Sidewinder missile.
The slow-moving, unknown objects, all of which were smaller than the initial balloon, may be challenging for military planes to target, according to officials.
The three further objects were shot down on Monday, according to White House spokesperson John Kirby, “out of an abundance of caution.”
He also said that the objects did not provide “any direct threat to people on the ground, however, they were finished “to protect our security, our interests and flight safety
According to officials, the balloon that was shot down over South Carolina was the size of three buses.
Officials reported the second item, which was above Alaska, as being the size of a “small vehicle.” Over the Yukon, the third object was “cylindrical.” The fourth flight, over Michigan, was described as “octagonal” but with restrictions.
Due to bad weather, the recovery of the balloon that was shot down on February 4 was delayed.
Debris from the other objects that were thrown out of the sky is currently being collected.
The search area in the Yukon Territory, according to the federal police force of Canada, was around 3,000 sq km (1,870 sq miles), and it included “rugged mountain terrain with a very high level of snowpack.”
The shards from the accidents in the Yukon and Lake Huron may never be found, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Sean McGillis, because of their distant locations.
Major-General Paul Prévost of the Canadian Armed Forces claimed that the Lake Huron item was “a suspected balloon” and that all three of the most recent objects to be shot down appeared to be “lighter than air” vehicles.
The military leader also advised anyone in the public who came across debris to get in touch with the police right away.
According to people with knowledge of the discussions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is thinking of seeing Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, at a security conference in Munich, Germany, later this week.
