Chinese balloon capable of gathering intelligence - US official

A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that the US changeable down this week was capable to cod communications signals, a US authoritative has said.

It was equipped with aggregate antennas susceptible of "intelligence postulation operations", a elder State Department authoritative said successful a inheritance briefing.

The US believes the balloon is portion of a wider fleet of surveillance balloons that has spanned 5 continents.

China has denied the balloon was utilized for spying purposes.

It has said the balloon was a upwind instrumentality blown astray.

Its quality successful US airspace has provoked a diplomatic situation and led US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a travel to China - the archetypal specified precocious level US-China gathering determination successful years. The US subject utilized a combatant pitchy to sprout the balloon down implicit the Atlantic Ocean implicit the weekend.

"We cognize [China] utilized these balloons for surveillance," the elder State Department authoritative said connected Thursday.

"The high-altitude balloons' instrumentality was intelligibly for quality surveillance and inconsistent with the instrumentality on-board upwind balloons," the authoritative added.

High solution images revealed the balloon - which was astir 200 ft (60 metres) gangly - had ample star panels susceptible of operating "multiple progressive quality postulation sensors" arsenic good arsenic antennas that were capable to cod and geo-locate communications, the authoritative said.

The balloon shaper besides had a nonstop narration with China's subject and is an approved authorities subject vendor, the authoritative said.

US intelligence, subject and overseas argumentation officials are briefing members of Congress connected Thursday astir the balloon.

At a Wednesday quality conference, Defence Department spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed that the US believed akin balloons had operated implicit North and South America, South East Asia, East Asia and Europe.