The FBI Has Restricted China's Basin Debris, Increasingly Stronger Indications Part Of Intelligence

Photo via US Fleet Forces Twitter

JAKARTA - The United States has completed rearranging of Chinese balloon debris that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by fighter jets. As a result, it further strengthens indications that the balloon was part of intelligence.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the debris included electronic and optical objects. But Kirby declined to reveal in more detail what the US has learned so far.

"This is a significant quantity [restored matter], including the charge structure as well as some electronics and optics, and all of that is now in the FBI laboratory in Myr," Kirby said as reported by The Guardian, Saturday, February 18.

The US has learned a lot about the balloon by observing it while flying over the United States.

"We will learn more, we are sure, by looking at the contents in it and looking at how it works and its capabilities."

The US military announced the recovery operation ended on Thursday 16 February. And the final cut is on its way to the FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis. Air and sea restrictions in the South Carolina area have also been officially lifted.

The announcement ended three dramatic weeks of watching US fighter jets shoot down four objects in the big Chinese balloon' confirmed on February 4, then three much smaller objects about a week later above Canada, Alaska, and Lake Huron. It was the shooting of an unauthorized object in the first peacetime known in US airspace.

China claimed to have the first balloon and apologized, claiming it was not for surveillance, but then objected when shot down.

Officials also said the search for a small object shot down above Lake Huron had stopped without anything being found. It was also found that two objects were shot down over Yukon and northern Alaska.

While the military believes that the balloon shot down in South Carolina is a reconnaissance aircraft operated by China, the Biden administration has acknowledged that three less likely objects are civilian balloons targeted due to increased radar detection after the first.

Most Chinese balloons fell into the water about 15 meters (50 ft), and the navy collected remnants from the surface while divers and unmanned naval vessels pulled the rest.