Pentagon releases pilot selfie in front of Chinese spy balloon

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Shot from the cockpit of a US military aircraft

Photo: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE/HANDOUT/EPA

The Pentagon has released a photo of the suspected Chinese spy balloon.

It shows the balloon hovering over the United States mainland on February 3, the US Department of Defense announced on Wednesday.

The photo was taken from the cockpit of a US military reconnaissance aircraft.

A pilot's helmet can be seen in the foreground, along with the shadow of the U-2 surveillance aircraft on the balloon - with solar cells and other technology hanging underneath.

The Lockhead U-2 operates at high altitudes and can only accommodate one person.

The balloon was about 60,000 feet (18.29 kilometers) high when its position over the state of Montana was announced.

On February 4, a day after the picture was taken, the US military shot down the Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina.

An earlier launch over land had been discarded because of the potential hazard from falling debris.

The salvage of the balloon was completed at the end of last week.

The debris is now being evaluated by the FBI's counterintelligence agency.

"Most of the balloon, including the cargo, has been recovered," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday.

She did not want to give any further details on the evaluation of the rubble and referred to the FBI.

The United States accuses China of using the balloon to spy on military installations.

Washington also said the downed balloon was one of a fleet of spy balloons that flew across five continents.

Beijing, on the other hand, speaks of a civilian research balloon that has gone off course.

The incident caused additional tension in the already strained relationship.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's top foreign policy leader Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last weekend.

Initially, however, there were no signs of relaxation afterwards.

Further dispute between USA and China

Beijing had also turned the argument around in the meantime - and in turn accused Washington of having illegally flown balloons at high altitude over China more than ten times in the past year.

According to the US military, it had destroyed a total of three other unidentified flying objects.

Most recently, an F-16 fighter jet took down a missile over Lake Huron in the US state of Michigan on Sunday, as the Pentagon announced in Washington.

The origin and destination of the object remained unclear.

Examination of the rubble should provide more information.

Beijing earlier this month admitted that one of its balloons flew over Costa Rican territory.

According to a statement by the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Chinese embassy in San Jose "apologized for the incident and explained that the balloon was used for scientific research, especially weather studies." According to Chinese information, the balloon's flight path deviated from the original course and there were only limited options course correction.

jok/dpa