The US Department of Defense confirmed the second Chinese balloon that was reportedly spotted, moving eastward.
On Friday, the DOD verified the second Chinese balloon that is believed to be a surveillance craft, transiting airspace somewhere in Latin America.
In the initial report published by CNN, the media outlet claimed that the second balloon’s flight path did not appear to include the United States. However, the Defense Department confirmed that the alleged surveillance balloon was spotted moving eastward.
While the White House’s national security team provides regular updates to President Joe Biden, the US government has been monitoring the Chinese spy balloon’s travel.
In a statement released by press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder during an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation, he confirmed that “we are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it as another Chinese surveillance balloon.”
A video also circulated on social media, appearing to show an explosion which took place above the Billings airbase in Montana. However, the defense official confirmed to Fox News that the video is not real.
A Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, U.S. officials said, one a defense expert estimates is equivalent to the size of three bus lengths https://t.co/BhcAHLUddz 1/5 pic.twitter.com/oMrJXNuwgz— Reuters (@Reuters) February 3, 2023
“A Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, U.S. officials said, one a defense expert estimates is equivalent to the size of three bus lengths.” Reuters reported.
Amid the allegations, China continued to deny that the balloon served to gather intelligence on sensitive U.S. sites.
According to the Chinese government, it was only a weather balloon and that it had gotten caught in adverse winds and blown off course.
In response, the DOD refuted China’s claims.
“The fact is we know that it’s a surveillance balloon, and I’m not going to be able to be more specific than that. And we do know that the balloon has violated U.S. airspace and international law, which is unacceptable,” Ryder said in a statement.
Meanwhile, during the press conference at the South Lawn of the White House after returning from Camp David, President Biden told reporters that the incident did not change the US-China relationship.
“We made it clear to China what we’re going to do, they understand our position, we’re not going to back off. We did the right thing, and there’s not a question of weakening or strengthening, it’s just the reality,” the President said.
