WASHINGTON, February 3. /TASS/. The US authorities believe that shooting down a high-altitude surveillance balloon detected in the north of the US, which Washington claims belongs to China, would be too dangerous because of its size, a senior defense official told reporters.

"I'm not going to go into the exact dimensions. We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area. We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana. But we just couldn't buy down the risk enough to feel comfortable recommending shooting it down yesterday. So, beyond that, though, I can't really go into the dimensions. But there have been reports of pilots seeing this thing, even though it's pretty high up in the sky. So, you know, it's sizeable," the Pentagon press service quoted the official as saying.

"We do not doubt that this is a PRC balloon. Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here. So the first question is does it pose a <…> physical kinetic threat to individuals in the United States <…>. Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not," the official continued.

In his words, given that risk, the US military assesses that downing it "wasn't worth it" due to the risk of the debris falling and "hurting somebody or damaging property."

"That is what we recommended to the White House yesterday," the official said.

Earlier, US media quoted Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder as saying that an aerial object, presumed to be a Chinese spy balloon, had been spotted moving in the north of the country. In his words, the balloon "is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground." The spokesman also said that after the balloon was detected, the US government "acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information." Moreover, he said, "instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years.".