A pilot flying above the Chinese spy balloon took a dramatic close-up snap of the large white orb a day before the US Air Force shot it down.
The photo shows the top of the pilot's helmet inside the U-2 cockpit with the balloon flying below and it was taken on February 3 as the balloon "hovered over the Central Continental United States", according to the caption provided by the US defence department.
The Pentagon released the image on Wednesday more than two weeks after the balloon made international headlines as it transited the United States.
The balloon was finally downed on February 4 by an F-22 fighter jet firing a AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
The strike took place once the balloon was no longer over land, and at sea off the South Carolina coast but still within US territorial waters.
The U-2 Dragon Lady is a high altitude US spy plane that has been in service since the 1950s.
The Pentagon announced last Friday that Navy ships and submersibles had completed recovery of the massive balloon and its payload, which fell in pieces into the Atlantic Ocean.
The payload was recovered from the ocean floor and is being analysed by the FBI, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday.
The shootdown led to three other smaller objects also being shot down by Air Force jets within a period of eight days: one over Alaska, one over Canada and one over Lake Huron. Searches for the Alaska and Lake Huron objects have ended.
President Joe Biden issued the order for the spy balloon to be shot down although he had wanted it to be downed earlier.
He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, US officials said, as it was determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
China responded that it reserved the right to “take further actions” and criticised the US for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
In its statement released following the shooting down of the balloon, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.”
China’s Ministry of Defence echoed the statement later in the day, saying it “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”
