Chinese Spy Balloon in Flight, Pentagon Releases Pics Taken Before Shoot Down

A U.S. Air Force pilot has a singular souvenir from the Chinese spy balloon disaster — a selfie snapped with the system within the background … earlier than it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Pentagon launched new photographs Wednesday, displaying the balloon in flight on Feb. 3 — the USAF ultimately fired a missile on Feb. 4 to take it down. The pictures have been taken from the cockpit of a U-2 spy airplane, which is able to flying at an altitude of as much as 70,000 ft.

The spy balloon was reportedly floating round 40,000 ft when it was destroyed. Interestingly, the brand new pictures present it was nonetheless over land on Feb. 3, and that the U.S. army was retaining an in depth eye on the balloon.

U.S. officers stated China’s tremendous snooper was concerning the measurement of three faculty buses, and you may see within the pics … it had big photo voltaic panels connected to the spying gear.

President Biden stated he gave the order to shoot it down on Feb. 1, however army advisors stated it will be finest to attend till it was over open water.