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Photo was taken from a U-2 spy aircraft on February 3 because the suspected Chinese “spy balloon” was hovering over the continental US earlier than it was downed with a missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet.
(United States Department of Defense)
A U-2 pilot flying excessive above the Chinese spy balloon took a close-up photograph of the massive white orb only a day earlier than the Air Force shot it down off the South Carolina coast.
The photograph exhibits the highest of the pilot’s helmet contained in the U-2 cockpit with the balloon flying under.
It was taken on February 3 because the balloon “hovered over the Central Continental United States,” in accordance with the caption supplied by the US Department of Defense.
The Pentagon launched the picture on Wednesday, greater than two weeks after the balloon made worldwide headlines because it transited the United States.
The balloon was downed on February 4 by an F-22 Raptor fighter jet firing a AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
The strike happened as soon as the balloon was not over land however was nonetheless inside US territorial waters.
READ MORE: China threatens US entities over downing of balloon
More objects shot down
The U-2 Dragon Lady is a excessive altitude US spy aircraft that has been in service because the Fifties.
The Pentagon introduced final Friday that Navy ships and submersibles had accomplished restoration of the large balloon and its payload, which fell in items into the Atlantic Ocean.
The payload was recovered from the ocean ground and is being analysed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh stated on Wednesday.
The shootdown led to 3 different smaller objects additionally being shot down by Air Force jets inside a interval of eight days: one over Alaska, one over Canada and one over Lake Huron. Searches for the Alaska and Lake Huron objects have ended.
The balloon incidents have triggered a brand new diplomatic confrontation between Washington DC and Beijing.
READ MORE: US nonetheless in darkish over flying objects because it trades balloon claims with China
Source: AP
Source: www.trtworld.com
