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• The US Department of Defense has released an image of a Chinese balloon.
• The selfie was snapped from the cockpit of a U-2 espionage plane.
• Washington claims that the balloon was part of a vast Chinese intelligence collection effort.

The US Department of Defense has released an image captured by an airman while flying over the Chinese balloon that was shot down earlier this month.

The selfie was snapped from the cockpit of a U-2 espionage plane while military authorities monitored the passage of the high-altitude balloon above the United States.

Beijing has insisted that the balloon was a weather ship that had been blown off course.

Yet, Washington claims that the balloon was part of a vast Chinese intelligence collection effort.

At least two planes acquired data on the balloon’s attributes and course as it passed over US territory.

A senior State Department source claimed earlier this month the fly-bys proved it “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations”.

When the balloon entered Alaskan airspace on January 28, officials became aware of it.

A jetliner-size payload

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint operation of the United States and Canada, spotted the foreign object, but the military did not shoot it down at the time.

Authorities indicated that they couldn’t shoot the balloon down over land due to its size and potential debris field, which would endanger citizens on the ground.

One Pentagon official told US legislators earlier this month the balloon was as tall as the Statue of Liberty and contained “a jetliner-size payload”.

The photo, which was revealed on Wednesday, was taken the day before the balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th. The photograph has supposedly achieved “legendary status” within the Pentagon.

The balloon was believed to be at 60,000 feet (18,200 meters) in the air.

According to the Air Force, U-2 planes often travel at heights of more than 70,000 feet.

The CIA previously used the single-seat reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft known as the Dragon Lady. Pilots must wear full-pressure suits comparable to those used by astronauts.

Last Friday, recovery attempts for the balloon’s scattered wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean came to an end.

Pieces of the debris, including its payload, have been recovered and are being studied, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said.

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• The US military retrieved important equipment from a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
• The incident strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
• The US military claims that targeting the latest items has been more challenging.

The US military announced on Monday that it had retrieved important equipment from a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been shot down by a US fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, including key sensors apparently used for intelligence gathering.

“Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” the US military’s Northern Command said in a statement.

The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government espionage craft, flew over the United States and Canada for a week before President Joe Biden ordered its destruction.

The incident strained relations between Washington and Beijing, prompting America’s top ambassador to cancel a trip to China.

It also prompted the US military to comb the skies for other objects that were not being detected by radar, resulting in an unprecedented three shootdowns between Friday and Sunday.

The US military and the Biden administration have recognized that much about the most recent unmanned objects is unclear, including how they remained aloft, who created them, and whether they were spying.

On Monday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to reassure Americans about the dangers presented by the mystery objects.

“I want to reassure Americans that these things pose no military threat to anyone on the ground,” Austin told reporters as he arrived in Brussels for a NATO meeting.

“They do, however, pose a risk to civil aviation as well as a possible threat to intelligence collection.”

More challenging

Because of their smaller size and absence of a traditional radar signature, the US military claims that targeting the latest items has been more challenging than shooting down the Chinese spy balloon.

The latest shootdown of an unidentifiable object by an F-16 fighter jet on Sunday took two sidewinder missiles – after one of them failed to down the target, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

Austin stated that the US military has not yet retrieved any debris from the three most recent objects shot down, one of which landed in ice and snow off the coast of Alaska. Another shootdown occurred over Canada’s Yukon area.

Officials in the United States have refused to link the instances.

However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on Monday that the four aerial objects shot down in recent days were somehow linked, without providing further details.

“Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there, the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention,” Trudeau told reporters in a news conference in Whitehorse, Yukon’s capital.

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• Chinese authorities claimes US balloons have illegally flown above China without any approval.
• The accusation comes after the US fired down a suspected spy balloon.
• The US fired down a suspected spy balloon above its territory on February 4.

The US has sent balloons into Chinese airspace more than 10 times in the last year, according to China’s foreign ministry.

The accusation comes after the US fired down a suspected spy balloon above its territory on February 4, which China claimed was a civilian balloon.

Since then, relations between the two countries have deteriorated. The US claims to have shot down a number of other unexplained objects in recent days.

When questioned on Monday, Beijing stated that the US had violated airspace numerous times.

“It’s not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing.

“Since last year alone, US balloons have illegally flown above China more than 10 times without any approval from Chinese authorities.

“The first thing the US side should do is start with a clean slate, undergo some self-reflection, instead of smearing and accusing China,” he added.

He claimed that Beijing has reacted to the invasions in a “responsible and professional” manner.

“If you want to know more about US high-altitude balloons illegally entering China’s airspace, I suggest you refer to the US side,” he said.

Washington has yet to respond to Beijing’s charges.

Following the first balloon incident, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing. China‘s alleged high-altitude espionage is “unacceptable and reckless,” according to the top diplomat.

On Sunday, the US authorized the downing of an unmanned “octagonal structure” near the Canadian border in Michigan; this was the fourth item taken out in eight days.

Smaller unidentified objects were also shot down by fighter aircraft over Alaska on February 10 and northern Canada on February 11.

Mr. Wang stated he had “no understanding of [these other objects]”.

“But what we want to tell everyone here is that the US’ frequent firing of advanced missiles used to strike down unidentified flying objects is an overreaction of excessive force,” he said.

A US military commander, General Glen VanHerck, said that there was no indication of any threat from the latest object.

He said it could be a “gaseous type of balloon” or “some type of a propulsion system”, adding he could not rule out that the objects were extra-terrestrials.

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