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The Pentagon has released selfies of US pilots showing Chinese spy balloons. Photo/CNN
WASHINGTON – Department of Defence United States of America (USA) has released a selfie taken in the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane, as a pilot flies overhead balonmata-mata China which was shot down by the country’s military earlier this month.
The selfie taken by the U-2 pilot shows the plane’s shadow over the balloon and a clear view of the balloon’s cargo as it crosses the United States.
CNN news agency first reported the existence of the selfie.
The balloon was first sighted by the US on January 28 and was eventually shot down by the US military off the coast of South Carolina after crossing the country.
A senior US State Department official earlier this month said the flyby showed the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting intelligence signal-gathering operations.
Officials said they decided not to shoot down the balloon over the US because of its size, fearing that falling debris could injure civilians or property on the ground.
Read: Alamak, US Allegedly Destroys Rp. 181,000 Balloons Using Rp. 6 M Missiles!
General Glen VanHerck, commander of the US Northern Command and North American Space Defense Command (NORAD), later said the balloon was 200 feet high with a payload weighing several thousand pounds.
US officials also stated that the balloon was incapable of significant intelligence gathering, partly because the US took steps to protect their critical data as soon as they saw it.
According to the US Air Force, the U-2 is a single-seat, high-altitude search and reconnaissance aircraft with “glider-like characteristics.” Because aircraft are regularly flown at altitudes in excess of 70,000 feet, pilots must wear full pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts.
The photo, released on Wednesday local time, clearly shows the pilot flying over the balloon which was hovering 60,000 feet when it sighted over Montana.
According to defense officials, the selfie was taken a week after the balloon entered US airspace near Alaska, and NORAD sent fighter jets to carry out a positive identification.
Read: After the US, China’s balloons ‘hang around’ in Taiwan
Still, officials tracking the balloon saw little cause for concern. By then, according to US officials, the balloon is expected to sail over Alaska and continue a northern trajectory that intelligence and military officials can track and study.
Instead, shortly after the balloon crossed land, it alarmed officials by turning unexpectedly south.
Once over US territory, officials argued that the benefits of gathering additional intelligence on the balloon far outweighed the risks of shooting it on the ground.
The US sent a U-2 spy plane to track the balloon’s progress, according to US officials as quoted by CNN, Thursday (23/2/2023).
Recovery efforts began soon after the balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4, and was completed on February 17. Pieces of debris were transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for further study.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday that the balloon payload had been found.
Read: Shoot down Chinese balloons, Biden apologizes to Xi Jinping
(ian)
