FBI investigates Chinese spy balloon

The FBI is analyzing the stays of a Chinese spy balloon that was downed by a U.S. military jet last weekend, but said that much of the evidence stays underwater within the Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s extremely early for us to evaluate what the intent was and the way the device was operating,” a senior FBI official told reporters in a briefing Thursday, in response to NBC News.

“Now we have literally not seen the payload, which is where we’d expect to see the lion’s share of the electronics,” the official said.

Other evidence that has been recovered from the very large debris field has been taken to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, where it’s being decontaminated by removing saltwater.

“It’s extremely early for us on this process and the evidence that has been recovered and dropped at the FBI is incredibly limited, that is evidence that was only present on the surface,” said a senior FBI official, NBC reported.

“So only a only a few items. We will probably characterize that into three varieties of items, one is the balloon or the cover itself, some wiring, after which some a really small amount of electronics,” that official said.

While noting that the FBI isn’t in possession of a big portion of the evidence believed to be on the ocean floor, an official said, “Thus far we now have not identified any kind of any energetic or offensive material.”

Officials said the FBI, which has never before investigated a balloon of this sort, first became involved within the probe of the airship on Feb. 1 when it was spotted flying over the US. FBI agents and officials were on the scene near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when the balloon was shot down 4 days later.

The FBI is answerable for investigating counterintelligence threats, and the balloon was believed to be carrying an electronics payload.

A senior State Department official on Thursday said that the balloon, which flew over the U.S. for eight days, had multiple antennas that were able to collecting so-called signals intelligence. The balloon’s maker also has ties to the Chinese military, the official said.

Also Thursday, 4 Pentagon officials were grilled by indignant members of a Senate panel about not firing on the balloon for days after becoming aware of it.

“I don’t need a rattling balloon going over the US after we could’ve taken it down over the Aleutian Islands,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

A senior FBI official said the search and recovery area for the balloon “is a large-scale scene,” in response to NBC.

“Much of the evidence stays underwater, and we’re coordinating with the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard in the gathering of that evidence to incorporate dive team experts that we now have the FBI, in addition to U.S Navy divers,” the official said.

The official said it “takes an extended time” to discover and stabilize the evidence underwater, transport it to the surface, after which move it to a harbor for transportation to Quantico.

That effort could take even longer resulting from potential issues with weather in coming days, the official said.

China has claimed that the balloon was a civilian airship that blew off beam, and that it was collecting data on weather.

U.S. officials have scoffed at that claim.

Biden administration officials said the balloon was latest of 5 Chinese spy balloons which are known to have crossed into U.S. airspace. The U.S. believes that greater than 40 other countries have had incursions of their very own airspaces by Chinese balloons.