The United States authorities shot down this Saturday the Chinese spy balloon that was detected in the United States since Tuesday, after the president, Joe Biden, told journalists early that they would "take care" of the device that was shot down off the coast of North Carolina .
The news agency The Associated Press confirmed that an operation is underway to recover the remains of the balloon that was the size of about three school buses and was located at an altitude of about 60,000 feet.
The detection of the artifact strained already vulnerable relations between the United States and China.
Chinese "surveillance" balloon sighted over Billings, Montana, on February 1, 2023. Chase Doak / AFP - Getty Images
The operation takes place in the Atlantic Ocean, television images show the explosion and the device falling into the water.