The shooting down of a huge Chinese balloon off the coast of the United States, followed by two other smaller objects over Alaska and Canadaraised concerns about the security of North America and further strained relations with China.
This is what we know so far:
What were the three objects?
The incidents began in late January, when a giant Chinese balloon, which Washington officials described as a spy, drifted for days in US skies before being shot down on February 4 by an F-22 jet off the South Carolina coast.
China insisted that the balloon was conducting meteorological research.
The Pentagon said it had a gondola the size of three buses and weighed more than a ton, as well as being equipped with multiple antennas and solar panels large enough to power various intelligence-gathering sensors.
Then on Friday, US warplanes shot down another object off northern Alaska, the military said, adding that it was “within sovereign airspace and over United States territorial waters.”
This object lacked any propulsion or control system, according to the authorities.
On Saturday, a US F-22 aircraft, acting on Canadian and Canadian orders, shot down a “high-altitude airborne object” over central Canada’s Yukon Territory, about 100 miles from the US border, over consider that it represented a threat to civil aviation.
Canada described it as cylindrical and smaller than the first balloon. Defense Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate whether he was of Chinese origin.
US Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, who was briefed by the Biden administration after the latest incident, said on Sunday that the last two objects were likely balloons, “but much smaller than the first one,” and that they both flew to each other 12,200 meters high.
US officials described the two new objects as the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.
What has been recovered?
Military teams, working with planes, boats and mini-submarines, are touring the shallow waters off South Carolina. Military images showed the recovery of a large piece of the balloon.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation assumed custody of the remains for analysis.
Operations to recover the second object continue on the sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska. “Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow and limited daylight” impact operations, the military said.
Recovery teams, supported by a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft, they are looking for remains of the third object in the Yukon, Anand said Saturday. The Pentagon noted that the FBI is working closely with Canadian police.
What was the purpose of the objects?
US officials say images of the first balloon show it consisted of a surveillance equipment that could intercept telecommunications.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said his mission was to “monitor strategic sites in the continental United States.”
A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, suggested that China, or some members of its military leadership, were intentionally seeking to undermine Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to Beijing.
The United States maintains that the balloons were part of a “fleet” that has traveled the five continents.
Some analysts say it may be the start of a major Chinese surveillance effort aimed at scrutinizing foreign military capabilities in anticipation of possible tensions over Taiwan in the next years.
Why so many now?
Analysts say U.S. and Canadian intelligence is constantly receiving large amounts of raw data and generally discarding some to focus on the threat of incoming missiles, not slow-moving objects like balloons.
“Now, of course, we’re tracking them. So I think we’ll probably find more stuff,” Jim Himes, the top Democratic representative on the House Intelligence Committee, told NBC.
Officials said three balloons are now known to have briefly flown over the United States during the Trump administration, undetected at the time, and one under Joe Biden’s own administration.
On Saturday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) sent fighter jets to investigate a “radar anomaly” over Montana, but found no related objects.
What is the impact on US-China ties?
The United States has suspended Blinken’s visit to China, seeking to stabilize bilateral relations, and has sanctioned six Chinese entities it believes support military spy balloon programs.
Beijing denounced the downing of the first balloon, saying it “seriously violates international practice.” It reserved the right “to use the necessary means to deal with similar situations.”
There has been no Chinese reaction to the last two shootdowns.
And the internal consequences?
Republicans have criticized Biden for waiting so long to shoot down the first balloon, though on Sunday House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said the US military had gone from “permissive” to “easy shooting “.
Schumer defended Biden’s handling of the crisis, telling ABC that an analysis of the recovered balloon wreckage may deal “a huge blow to America.”
But Biden has faced calls from both camps to show more transparency. “I’m really concerned about why the administration isn’t being more forthcoming with everything it knows,” Himes said.
