The mysterious Chinese “spy” balloon, which is the size of three buses, was finally shot down by the authorities of the United States of America after it floated over the US airspace for several days, sparking a wave of concern among security forces.
The US fighter jets shot down the massive China-owned balloon with a single missile strike, and the video footage of the same was shared by many netizens who bore witness to the incident. While there was no explosion, the debris from the balloon could be seen scattering.
Lauding the US Air Force, President Joe Biden said, “We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it.” The Chinese spy balloon was shot down by just a single missile which was released by an F-22 fighter jet.
A senior US military official talked about the details of the shooting down of the Chinese balloon and said that an F-22 fighter jet took the shot at 2:39 p.m. (1939 GMT), using a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, shooting down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
The aircraft deployed by Chinese authorities spent several days looming over North America, heightening tensions between the already strained relations of Beijing and Washington. The balloon was eventually shot down, with the debris falling into shallow water and leaving the residents unhurt.
While the explosion didn’t harm any civilians, many netizens ended up capturing the shooting down of the Chinese “spying” balloon through their homes and beaches, sharing the footage of the same on social media.
After shooting down a Chinese surveillance balloon in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina, the US launched a mission to recover all the equipment from the debris while China expressed its strong dissatisfaction towards America's use of force against its civilian unmanned airship and warned of repercussions.
(With inputs from agencies)
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