Washington [US], February 14: "The sailors recovered a substantial amount of debris, including the entire main sensor and electronic components, as well as large parts of the balloon's structure," the ministry said in a statement. Northern Command of the US Army.
Earlier on the same day, in a memo sent to both chambers of the US Congress , the Pentagon said that all three objects shot down by F-22 stealth fighters over North America had different shapes, two objects had different shapes. shot down in Alaska, Canada could carry unidentified objects.
Specifically, the unidentified and downed flying object in Canadian airspace has the appearance of "a small, metal sphere, carrying an unidentified object underneath".
These are the first official descriptions of one of the three objects shot down in recent days and were previously described as "spherical objects". The Pentagon said the flying object came close to "sensitive areas of the United States" before being handled.
The US military official also wrote that the object shot down above Lake Huron in Michigan on February 12 "slowly lowered altitude" and fell into the lake after being hit.
The object that was shot down above Alaska on February 10 is "about the size of a small car" and does not look like a Chinese hot air balloon.
"We do not currently have additional information about these objects, including details of their capabilities, goals, or origins," according to a memo sent by the Pentagon to Congress.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on February 13 that the US and Canada were still working to recover and collect debris of unidentified objects.
Pressure from both houses of the US Congress
The details are provided after lawmakers on Capitol Hill ramped up pressure to understand more why the administration of President Joe Biden shot down three unidentified objects in three days, following the contempt handling of the United States. China's spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said lawmakers had "only preliminary information" about the flying objects that were shot down over North American airspace last week. More information is expected to be provided during the February 14 hearing.
Meanwhile, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner called the Biden administration's lack of information about the flying objects "deeply frustrating".
"We're the committee that's supposed to be getting the intelligence that's been collected, the administration's reports to Congress about threats like this, and we've heard nothing," Turner said. Interview with Fox News.
The White House denies the accusation of releasing a hot air balloon over China
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman denied accusations from Beijing that the US deployed spy balloons to China.
"There aren't any US government balloons over China," Sherman said at a press conference at the State Department headquarters on February 13.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper