The Pentagon assessed that the spy balloon was part of an extensive surveillance program run by the People’s Liberation Army.
Multiple United States government agencies are analyzing the debris of an unidentified high-altitude balloon recovered in waters near Alaska, according to a statement by the Department of Defense.
Commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska first alerted local law enforcement that they had found a suspicious object in the water a week prior to the Pentagon’s announcement. Officials reviewed photographs of the object taken by the fishermen.
Following the review, Federal Bureau of Investigationagents were sent to meet the boat when it returned to port.
At the time, it was not entirely clear exactly what the object was and officials were not sure if it was a balloon at all. However, the FBI determined that its appearance was similar enough to the Chinese-owned surveillance balloon that flew over the U.S. a year ago that it warranted further investigation.
(Related: Chinese spy balloon program linked to PLA’s hypersonic missiles.)
Balloon remnants taken to military base in Anchorage
According to Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough, the remnants of the suspected Chinese balloon have been taken to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a joint U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army base in Anchorage.
“We do not know why the balloon was in the waters off the coast of Alaska, nor are we going to characterize it at this time, but hope to learn more about the balloon’s origin and purpose after further analysis of the material, which will be conducted by multiple agencies,” said Gough in an emailed statement to news outlets.
Reports of the balloon’s remnants come just over a year since a U.S. Air Force fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it flew over the United States.
This is when the existence of high-altitude surveillance balloons burst into U.S. consciousness, when the Chinese spy balloon appeared to blow off course and transited across the continental United States. The balloon traveled from China to the contiguous U.S. through Alaskan and Canadian airspace.
The Pentagon assessed that the spy balloon was part of an extensive surveillance program run by the People’s Liberation Army, China’s armed forces. The balloon fleet, according to U.S. officials, has conducted over two dozen missions over at least five continents in recent years.
Following the episode, China appeared to temporarily suspend the program. It is still unclear whether the program has been restarted, but Taiwan accused Beijing in January of flying multiple balloons through its airspace as an intimidation tactic during Taiwan’s presidential election.
The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the U.S. was shot down by an Air Force F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Carolina in February 2023, but not before it was allowed to freely cross the contiguous U.S. and pass over at least three sites linked to the nation’s nuclear program.
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