Chinese spy balloon: US tracks suspected surveillance device

BBC Online :
The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days.
Defence officials said they were confident the “high-altitude surveillance balloon” belonged to China. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana.
The military decided against shooting it down in case debris falls.
China warned against speculation and “hype” until the facts are verified.
The object flew over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over the city of Billings in Montana on Wednesday, US officials said.
A senior defence official said the government prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, in case the White House ordered the object to be shot down.
Canada said on Friday that it was monitoring “a potential second incident” involving a surveillance balloon, but did not say which country could be behind it. It said in the statement that it is working closely with the US to “safeguard Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats”.
Top military leaders, including Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met on Wednesday to assess the threat. Mr Austin was travelling in the Philippines at the time.
Montana, a sparsely populated state, is home to one of only three nuclear missile silo fields in the country, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, and the official said the apparent spy craft was flying over sensitive sites to collect information.
But the military leaders advised against taking “kinetic action” against the balloon because of the danger that falling debris might pose to people on the ground.