The sensors of the first possibly Chinese spy balloon shot down over the United States in early February have been found in the Atlantic Ocean, the US military announced, the BBC and The Guardian write.

According to the US Northern Command, search teams found “a significant amount of debris at the scene, including all identified priority sensors and electronic parts.”

The FBI will investigate items the US says were used to spy on classified military sites.

“Large parts of the structure” were also found off the coast of South Carolina on Monday, the military said.

According to CBS, among the items found are approximately 30-40 feet (9-12 m) of the balloon’s antenna.

US officials said the high-altitude balloon came from China and was being used for surveillance, but China said it was simply a weather monitoring airship that had gone astray.

The balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 was the first in a series of mysterious objects destroyed by the US military over eight days in the airspace of North America. Three more unidentified flying objects flew over the United States, which forced the American general not to rule out the possibility of the existence of extraterrestrials.

However, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said China’s surveillance program dates back at least to the Trump administration, which he said he was unaware of.

Still unknown, but not UFOs

There are no “signs of extraterrestrial activity” after a series of drones shot down by the US military, a White House spokeswoman said on Monday, adding that it needed to be “addressed”, AFP reported.

White House National Security Council spokesman Hon Kirby says it’s just interference from China, which has a massive spy balloon project. However, he admits that it is still being determined that it was an octagonal flying object shot down by the US Air Force, according to Reuters.

“The United States has not yet been able to identify the recently downed objects found in North American airspace,” the spokesman said.

At a White House news conference, Kirby said that closer surveillance of the airspace may partly explain the increase in the number of objects detected, but that they were not rated as a threat to people on the ground and showed no signs of being maneuverable. or movement

The US is creating a new “interagency group” to study unidentified aerial objects

President Joe Biden has appointed National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to lead “an interagency group to examine the broader policy implications for the detection, analysis and disposal of unidentified aerial objects that pose a security threat,” national security spokesman John Kirby told the carrier on Monday. , quoted by CNN.

The group, which includes Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes, is tasked with engaging “our appropriate partners in sharing information and trying to get their perspective,” and the administration will be briefed. Meanwhile, members of Congress and local officials, Kirby said.

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