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US military attempts to recover wreckage of Chinese balloon

On Saturday, over the Atlantic Ocean off the Carolina coast, the US military downed the Chinese weather balloon which had flown into US airspace earlier

WASHINGTON, February 6. /TASS/. The US military is conducting an operation of recovering the wreckage of a Chinese weather balloon it shot down in US airspace, according to a statement by Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the US Northern Command General Glen VanHerck published on Sunday.

According to the document, the US Air Force and the Navy are currently "working to recover the balloon and payload." The US Coast Guard "ensured public safety throughout the operation and recovery efforts." Earlier, media outlets reported that the recovery of the wreckage may take several days and all the components found would be handed over to US intelligence.

The general stated that "United States fighter aircraft under US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) authority successfully brought down" the balloon on February 4. According to him, it was done "within sovereign US airspace and over US territorial waters to protect civilians while maximizing [the] ability to recover the payload."

On Saturday, over the Atlantic Ocean off the Carolina coast, the US military downed the Chinese weather balloon which had flown into US airspace earlier.

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