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The U.S. government says that another Chinese spy balloon is traveling over Latin America.
Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told Fox News on Friday night that “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”
This comes after Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing on Thursday afternoon that the U.S. government detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental U.S.
A senior defense official said during the briefing that the U.S. government is “confident” that the surveillance balloon is from the People’s Republic of China.
BIDEN ADMIN TO BRIEF ‘GANG OF EIGHT’ ON CHINESE SPY BALLOON AFTER SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S REQUEST
A high-altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.
(Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)
The balloon was recently over Montana, and the official said that the government considered shooting it down but decided against using military force because of the potential risks.
When President Biden was briefed on the situation, he asked for military options, the official said.
CHINESE SPY BALLOON: BLINKEN CALLS OUT CHINA FOR ‘IRRESPONSIBLE ACT’ IN PHONE CALL WITH CCP OFFICIAL
This map shows the approximate path of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over Montana, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.
(Fox News)
“You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings Airport and the mobilization of a number of assets, including F-22,” the official said. “The context for that was that we put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana,” the official said.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the balloon is a “civilian airship” being used for meteorological purposes and deviated from its planned course.
A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, Feb. 1, 2023, in this picture obtained from…
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