US tracking suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

The US has been monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted successful the skies implicit the bluish US this week.

Pentagon officials said successful a briefing they are "confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon" belongs to China.

Officials person been determining immoderate menace it poses and whether to stroke it retired of the sky, helium added.

It comes up of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's sojourn to China.

The balloon was located implicit the agrarian authorities of Montana connected Wednesday, said the Pentagon.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed connected the situation, a elder defence authoritative said.

He added that US subject leaders, including Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, the president of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met connected Wednesday to measure the threat. Mr Austin was travelling to the Philippines astatine the time.

The subject commanders advised against taking "kinetic action" against the balloon due to the fact that of the information of debris falling to the ground.

The elder defence authoritative said determination was nary "significantly enhanced threat" of US quality being compromised due to the fact that US officials "know precisely wherever this balloon is and precisely wherever it's passing over".

He added that determination was nary menace to civilian aviation either due to the fact that the balloon is "significantly" supra the altitude utilized by commercialized airlines.

The elder defence authoritative said the US has raised the substance with Chinese officials successful their embassy successful Washington DC and successful Beijing.

The entity flew implicit Alaska's Aleutian Islands and done Canada earlier appearing implicit the metropolis of Billings, Montana, connected Wednesday, officials say.

During Thursday's briefing astatine the Pentagon, officials declined to disclose the aircraft's existent position. They besides refused to supply much details of the object, including its size.

"There person been reports of pilots seeing this happening adjacent though it's beauteous precocious up successful the sky," a defence authoritative said, speaking connected information of anonymity.

"So you know, it's, it's sizable."

The authoritative added that akin balloons person appeared successful the skies implicit the US successful the past fewer years.

But the existent balloon "is appearing to bent retired for a longer play of time" and has been "more persistent" than erstwhile spy crafts.

Secretary Blinken, the apical US diplomat, volition beryllium successful Beijing adjacent week to clasp talks connected a wide scope of issues, including security, Taiwan, Covid-19, and overseas policy.

He volition besides conscionable Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Financial Times paper reported connected Thursday.