A photo released by the United States military revealed a second Chinese balloon was shot down in 2023, along with the one that crossed over the nation before being brought down.
Newsweek has emailed the U.S. Northern Command for comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. said the "mistaken entry" into U.S. airspace by the Chinese "civilian unmanned airship," the first flying object downed by the U.S. in 2023, was an accident.
Why It Matters
In February 2023, four balloons, or high-altitude objects, were detected flying over North America. They were shot down by U.S. fighter jets over the waters off South Carolina, the northern coast of Alaska, Yukon in Canada, and Lake Huron in the Midwest, respectively.
President Joe Biden claimed at the time that besides the first balloon, which was brought down on February 4, 2023, and packed with U.S. technology that could have allowed it to spy on Americans, the three other objects were not related to China's spy balloon program.
