U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 prepare material recovered within the Atlantic Ocean from a high-altitude Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force off the coast of South Carolina for transport from a ship docked at Virginia Beach, Virginia to federal agents at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek on February 10, 2023 on this image released by the U.S. Navy in Washington, February 13, 2023.
Petty Officer 1st Class Kris Lindstrom | U.S. Navy | Handout via Reuters
The U.S. military said on Friday it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina for a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by a U.S. fighter jet, and the last of the debris was being shipped to a laboratory for evaluation.
“Final pieces of debris are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation, as has occurred with the previous surface and subsurface debris recovered,” the U.S. Northern Command said in an announcement.
Recovery operations concluded on Thursday and Navy and Coast Guard vessels have left the realm and safety perimeters around the positioning have been lifted, the statement said.
The U.S. military said earlier this week it had recovered the entire priority sensor and electronics pieces identified in addition to large sections of the balloon’s structure.
The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent every week flying over the US and Canada before being shot down off the Atlantic coast on orders from President Joe Biden. The episode has strained ties between Washington and Beijing, leading America’s top diplomat to postpone a visit to China.
