The Pentagon has released a photo taken by the pilot of a US U-2 spy plane believed to have flown over a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month.
The silver-white fuzzy sphere of the balloon with the plates hanging below can be clearly seen in the photo, but the shadow of the plane can also be clearly seen. The pilot took the selfie as the flying object entered US airspace at a high altitude.
As Index previously wrote, in early February, the United States destroyed a large device identified as a Chinese surveillance balloon near the country’s east coast after it had drifted in US airspace for about eight days.
The incident led to a diplomatic and political struggle between the United States and China, with many sharp exchanges of statements.
Canada’s prime minister announced Saturday that the US Air Force had destroyed, at Canada’s request, an unidentified aerial vehicle a few days later at high altitude over northwestern Canada.
A USAF F-22 carried out a similar operation the day before the operation, when it shot down an unidentified aircraft in US airspace near the northern coast of Alaska, claiming it threatened civilian air traffic.
