The U.S. Department of Defense shot down some kind of Chinese aircraft on Saturday.
The balloon was spotted for the first time on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands
Coming in at over 200 feet tall, the Chinese balloon was massive.
The mission was completed at about 2:40 pm in the afternoon, while the balloon was between 60,000 to 65,000 feet high in the air off the coast of South Carolina.
A group of U.S. military fighter jets were deployed to take the balloon down from the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
The balloon might have had surveillance equipment and was “purposefully” pushed to travel over the U.S. and Canada.
Chinese officials insists that the balloon was a “runaway weather balloon” that simply blew off course. They’ve also accused the U.S. of overreacting.
The Defence Department said Chinese balloons travelled through the U.S. at least three times under former president Donald Trump. Those balloons weren’t discovered until after President Joe Biden took office.
A defence official told reporters that Chinese balloons have been spotted over other countries in recent years, including in East Asia, South Asia, and Europe.