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The US military has said it does not currently plan to shoot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon as it does not pose a threat militarily or to civilians, but that targeting it could create a huge amount of potentially dangerous debris.
At the same time, it said it was monitoring the path of the balloon as it tracked eastwards across the US.
As Secretary of Sate Antony Blinken postponed a visit to Beijing amid a spike in tensions since the Pentagon revealed it was tracking the object, China has said it is a weather monitoring device and apologised.
On Friday, a senior military officer briefing the media in Washington DC was asked several times, why the US had not shot it down, particularly given the US’s claim is a spy balloon, and that this is not the first time this incident had occurred.
“As we assess options, and considering the size of the payload on this, looking at the potential for debris and the impact on civilians on the ground or property damage, again, running through the various factors, and looking at in terms of does it pose a potential risk to people while in the air, and right now, as I mentioned, we assess that it does not pose a risk to people on the ground as it currently is traversing the continental United States,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Patrick Ryder.
He added: “Again, right now we’re monitoring the situation closely and reviewing options, but beyond that, I’m not going to have any additional information.”
More follows….
