Navy divers are currently retrieving debris from the fallen Chinese spy balloon.
A high-ranking general announced that the U.S. is exploring the possibility that the balloon was carrying explosives.
The balloon was described as being 200 feet tall, weighing several thousand pounds, and having a payload equivalent to a commercial jetliner.
The Pentagon alleges that the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the United States might potentially have been equipped with explosives designed to make it self-destruct after gathering crucial intelligence information.
The Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. airspace over Alaska last Saturday and was observed flying over key military installations and nuclear silos as it traveled across the continental U.S.
Despite being aware of the balloon’s presence, the Biden Administration chose to stand down, with the President instructing officials to hold off shooting the balloon until Wednesday.
However, the balloon was eventually shot down on Saturday over the Atlantic near the coast of the Carolinas.
“Because the president decided they wouldn’t shoot it down until he could do so safely, and that meant over water, that afforded us a terrific opportunity to gain a better understanding, to study the capabilities of this balloon,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Critics argue that if what the Pentagon says is true, it could mean that the Biden Administration knew that the balloon was equipped with equipment that could allow it to self-detonate and still allowed it to remain in U.S. air space until it finished getting all of the information it needed.
There are speculations that if the balloon really had exploded, it could have resulted in harm to individuals and structures beneath it, leading some people to raise concerns about why President Biden permitted it to hover above the U.S. for such an extended period.
This is a developing story.
