February 4, 2023 US shoots down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast

Multiple US Navy and Coast Guard vessels are in the area where the suspected Chinese spy balloon went down and are securing a perimeter, according to a senior US military official said.

The official told CNN that the Navy had anticipated having to recover debris in deeper water, but it landed at a depth of about 47 feet, which "will make it fairly easy."

The official said "capable Navy divers" will go down as needed into the water to assist in the operation. There are also “unmanned vessels that can go down to get the structure and lift it back up on the recovery ship,” the official added.

The official did not know how long it would take crews to recover any salvageable equipment from the downed aircraft but noted that recovery could take "a relatively short time."

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the balloon shot down by the US over the Atlantic Ocean Saturday was being used by the Chinese government "to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

President Joe Biden gave the Pentagon authorization on Wednesday to take down the surveillance balloon "as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path," Austin said in a statement after the military downed the aircraft Saturday.

"Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the (People's Republic of China)’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said.

President Joe Biden said the mission to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the East Coast Saturday was successful, and that he had ordered the Pentagon to knock the aircraft out of the sky as soon as it was safe to do so.

"They decided, without doing damage to anyone on the ground, they decided that the best time to do that was as it got over water ... within a 12-mile limit. They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," the president added.

Asked if that was a recommendation from his national security team, Biden reiterated: “I told them to shoot it down. They said to me, 'Let’s wait for the safest place to do it.'”

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CNN's Nikki Carvajal contributed reporting to this post.

The US military used fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to take down the suspected Chinese spy balloon at 2:39 p.m. ET on Saturday, according to a senior US military official.

A single missile was used, the official said. The US military used F-22 aircrafts and fired an AIM-9X missile.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the Chinese leader for the suspected spy balloon that was taken down after crossing the continental United States.

“I strongly condemn President Xi’s brazen incursion into American airspace and I commend President Biden’s leadership in taking down the Chinese balloon over water to ensure safety for all Americans," Schumer said in a statement Saturday. "Now we can collect the equipment and analyze the technology used by the Chinese Communist Party.”

The US has rejected China's claims that the balloon entered US airspace by accident, calling it a "civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “made clear" in his conversation with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Friday morning that the US "reserved the right to take whatever action we deemed appropriate to protect our interests," a US senior administration official told CNN Saturday.

The official was responding to a question about whether the US government informed the Chinese government before downing the surveillance balloon. 

US military officials shot down the suspected spy balloon off the East Coast Saturday afternoon, over the Atlantic Ocean near the Carolinas.

After extending a ground stop at three airports in North and South Carolina, the Federal Aviation Administration said it has reopened airspace in the area.

The stop was lifted shortly after the US military took down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean.

“Flights to and from Wilmington (ILM), Myrtle Beach International (MYR) and Charleston International (CHS) airports are resuming. Other airspace has been reopened. Normal operations resuming,” the FAA said in a statement.

Twitter user Devon Pace captured video of the takedown of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of the Carolinas.

A US official told CNN that the military shot down the balloon.

Georgetown, South Carolina, resident Joey Lopes told CNN he was visiting Myrtle Beach for the day when he looked up in the sky around 2:30 p.m. ET and saw the balloon near the coast.

Lopes said he recorded video at 2:38 p.m. ET after he heard a loud bang in the sky. His video shows the balloon moments after it started to fall from the sky. The contrails of two jets can be seen near the balloon.

Lopes said he also heard a bang about one minute after he first saw the balloon had been shot.

Travis Huffstetler, a local photographer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said he witnessed the US military shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon Saturday afternoon.

Huffstetler watched the incident from the 15th floor of a hotel. He recalled seeing multiple aircraft flying around the balloon for about 20 to 30 minutes, before he saw what appeared to be a missile come from an airplane that struck the balloon down.

"It was super visible here from the beach," he added.

According to Huffstetler, beach access points and streets were packed with people who had their cameras pointed up to the sky. 

Huffstetler said he captured photos right as the balloon was pierced and began to disintegrate. 

CNN’s Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this post.