The US Navy on Tuesday published photos that capture the moment sailors pulled a downed Chinese surveillance balloon out of the Atlantic Ocean.
A US Air Force F-22 fighter plane fired a single air-to-air missile to shoot down the high-altitude balloon over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
China previously admitted that it owned the balloon, which first appeared last week while flying over the Pacific northwest.
Sailors recover a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday after it was shot down by an air force plane. Photo: US Navy via EPA-EFE
The F-22 was operating at an altitude of 58,000 feet (17,700 metres) when it sent the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile into the balloon, which was hovering somewhere between 60,000 and 65,000 feet (18,000 to 20,000 metres), sending the system plummeting into waters several kilometres off the coast, a senior US defence official said over the weekend.
