A suspected surveillance balloon from China has been spotted in northern US skies and it was snapped in Montana on Wednesday. The Pentagon has been tracking the giant high-altitude object for several days as it coasts over continental US, a senior defence official said on Thursday.
The senior defence official said: “We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [People’s Republic of China].
“Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration.”
The Pentagon spokesman assured Americans that the balloon is travelling at an altitude “well above commercial air traffic” and does not pose a safety concern at present.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said: “The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”
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President Biden reportedly took Milley’s advice not to order the balloon shot down.
During the briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday, officials withheld the aircraft’s current location, but the balloon was spotted in Montana earlier this week.
An unnamed defence official said: “There have been reports of pilots seeing this thing even though it’s pretty high up in the sky.
“So you know, it’s, it’s sizable.”
