US recovers debris from Chinese balloon in Atlantic

WASHINGTON - The United States is recovering debris from a Chinese balloon in the Atlantic for analysis by intelligence experts and there is no plan to give the remains back to Beijing, officials said on Monday. China says the balloon was an errant weather observation aircraft with no military purpose, but the United States says it is a sophisticated high-altitude spying vehicle.

Two days after a US fighter jet shot down the balloon, the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that they have recovered some remnants off the surface of the ocean and weather conditions did not permit much undersea surveillance of the debris field.

In the coming days, US personnel will be able to get down there and take a better look at what's on the bottom of the ocean, but it's just beginning Kirby said.

General Glen VanHerck, head of the US Northern Command, told reporters that a Navy ship is mapping the debris field, which is expected to measure about 1,500 by 1,500 meters.

The balloon itself was up to 60 m tall and carried a payload of several thousand pounds that was roughly the size of a regional jet aircraft, he said.

After slowly traversing the middle of the United States, over several top secret military sites, the balloon went out over the east coast, where President Joe Biden ordered it to be shot down.