US fighter aircraft shoots craft down over Atlantic, but Republicans accuse Biden of weak response to incursion
Beijing argued it was a weather balloon that had strayed significantly off course.
The secretary of state said on Friday that sending the balloon over US territory was “an irresponsible act and that decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.” The size of the balloon was also quite large. Beneath it was a payload of solar panels and possibly other equipment. It was reported to be as big as two or three single deck buses.
The public was concerned. Some under its flight path said in online posts that they would try to shoot it down themselves. Some Republican politicians posted pictures of themselves with guns pointed up towards the sky. The US navy and coast guard cordoned off the area immediately. A salvage vessel is expected to try scoop up whatever is found, and this will be brought to a laboratory in Virginia for analysis.
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