It was shot down on February 4 just off the South Carolina coast, and was recovered from the Atlantic ocean by the US military, which has been studying its contents since.
The Pentagon has confirmed that a Chinese balloon shot down by a US fighter jet over the Atlantic in February did not collect intelligence while it flew across the United States. The Pentagon spokesman, Pat Ryder, stated that the US took steps to mitigate intelligence collection by the balloon, but the efforts made contributed to the incident.
The balloon, which had a large payload of electronics, flew over the United States from Alaska to South Carolina from late January to early February, crossing above sensitive military installations and prompting concerns Beijing was scooping up vital intelligence.
The incident sparked fresh strains in relations between Beijing and Washington, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a trip to China in February. China denied that the balloon was to collect intelligence and said it had strayed off course in entering US airspace.
The US official said the balloon had multiple antennas, including an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications. The White House played down the whole balloon incident, stating that the Chinese leadership did not know where it was and what was in it.
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