The United States military has confirmed that they are searching for remnants of a balloon, which they suspect to be a Chinese surveillance device, after shooting it down in the Atlantic off South Carolina on Saturday.
The Chinese government insists the balloon was a civilian airship that strayed into U.S. airspace.
The U.S. Navy is in the process of retrieving the balloon and its payload, with the Coast Guard providing security for the operation.
“Our U.S. Navy component is currently conducting recovery operations, with the U.S. Coast Guard assisting in securing the area and maintaining public safety,” General Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command said in a statement on Sunday.
The shooting down of the balloon has resulted in the cancellation of a planned visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng has expressed strong opposition to the shooting and called it an “obvious overreaction.”