Global Courant
The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US earlier this year did not collect data and did not send it back to Beijing, Pentagon press secretary Brig. General Pat Ryder said Thursday.
“We were aware that it had intelligence-gathering capabilities,” Ryder said, hours after reports that the Chinese spy balloon used US equipment to take pictures and videos intended to be sent back to Beijing.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. General Pat Ryder walks onstage at the start of a press briefing in the Pentagon Briefing Room on Thursday, June 22, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“It’s our assessment now that (the balloon) was not picked up while it was traveling across the United States… And as we said at the time, we’ve also taken steps to reduce that balloon’s potential efforts,” Ryder said.
US NAVY HOSTS ‘SIGNIFICANT’ PART OF CHINESE SPY BALLOON FOR SOUTH CAROLINA, SAYS DEFENSE OFFICIAL
Intelligence agencies have concluded that the spy balloon was being used for espionage, not for weather-related problems as China had claimed.
The US Air Force has released the first images of the Chinese spy craft, taken before it was shot down.
Information captured by the spy balloon is not successfully returned to Beijing. It’s unclear why the espionage mission appeared to fail, but officials said intelligence agencies used countermeasures to prevent data collection.
The Chinese spy balloon flew from Alaska to the East Coast, where it was shot down by the military over the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 4.
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President Biden claimed on Saturday that the balloon was “more embarrassing than deliberate” by the communist regime.
Fox News’ Patrick Hauf contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues and much more.
