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Balloon shot down by the US Air Force
Photo: RANDALL HILL / REUTERS
According to a media report, China is preparing to shoot down an unidentified flying object.
As the English-language daily newspaper "Global Times" reported, citing a local shipping authority, the mysterious flying object was sighted on Sunday off the waters of the prefecture-level city of Rizhao in Shandong province.
A message was sent to nearby fishermen to pay special attention to their safety.
The Global Times is under the auspices of the Communist Party and is considered a propaganda newspaper.
At first there was no further information as to what kind of flying object it was.
The news was the most discussed topic in China's social media on Sunday evening, with several million users clicking on the corresponding hashtag within a few hours on the online platform Weibo alone.
Information gathering with balloons over five continents
In the past few days, the US military shot down three flying objects over North America, including a balloon from China that may have been used for espionage purposes.
The Chinese government claims that this flying object was a "civilian, unmanned airship" that accidentally deviated from its original route due to strong winds.
According to initial findings, the two objects shot down afterwards are significantly smaller than the balloon.
They were destroyed because they are said to have posed a potential threat to civil air traffic safety due to their altitude.
In both cases it was initially unclear what the origin and missions of the objects were.
According to the US, balloons have been collecting information about military installations in areas of strategic interest to China for years.
They have been sighted across five continents and are part of a surveillance program.
pbe/dpa