Downed Chinese balloon aimed for Guam but was blown off course, US official says
- The craft shifted course abruptly as a cold front moved in, and its flight over the continental US might not have been intentional
- Balloons and other unidentified objects have been previously spotted over Guam, a strategic hub for the US Navy and Air Force
US officials believe a Chinese balloon that was shot down after crossing the continental United States originally had a trajectory that would have taken it over Guam and Hawaii but was blown off course by prevailing winds, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.
The balloon, which Washington accuses Beijing of using for surveillance and China says was a civilian research vessel, drifted across Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, then Canada and the central United States before it was shot down by the US military off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
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The incident has further strained US-China relations and prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing last week.
China has accused the US of overreacting in bringing the balloon down with a missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet.
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China has also countered that US balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times on round-the-world flights since May 2022. Beijing said it would take measures against US entities that undermine Chinese sovereignty.
The White House has disputed China’s allegations.
US military and intelligence agencies tracked the balloon from when it lifted off from Hainan Island near China’s south coast, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The report, citing US officials who were not named, said the balloon had shifted course abruptly over the Pacific Ocean as a cold front moved in, and that analysts were looking into the possibility that its flight over the continental US might not have been intentional.
Balloons and other unidentified objects have been previously spotted over Guam, a strategic hub for the US Navy and Air Force in the western Pacific.
It is unclear how much control China retained over the balloon once it veered from its original trajectory.
A US official told Associated Press that the balloon could have been externally manoeuvred or directed to loiter over a specific target, but it is unclear whether Chinese forces did so.
The US military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the balloon as well as large sections of the vessel itself.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Associated Press
