The US military has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, with China threatening repercussions after it continued to insist the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft.
US President Joe Biden confirmed his government shot down the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
According to eyewitness reports, the balloon was hit by a US missile off the coast of South Carolina near Surfside Beach.
Vision posted to social media shows what looks like a burst balloon descending towards the water.
Mr Biden told reporters he ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon as soon as it was safe to do so.
"They decided that the best time to do that [was when] it got over water," Mr Biden said.
The government then ordered a halt to flights around the South Carolina coast due to what it called an undisclosed "national security effort".
The balloon was downed by US air force fighter aircraft.
"They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," Mr Biden said.
"We'll have more to report on this a little later."
In response to the balloon being shot down, China's foreign ministry expressed "strong dissatisfaction" and opposition towards the United States' "use of force" to attack its "civilian unmanned airship".
A statement from the foreign ministry said despite the US acknowledging the balloon posed no military threat, it still insisted on using force, "obviously overreacting and seriously violating international practice."
"China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reactions," the statement read.
Mr Biden was aboard Air Force One as the balloon was shot down.
He had been attending a private event on Saturday, local time, before disembarking the aircraft to speak to reporters. Earlier, he had told reporters the US was "going to take care of it".
Mr Biden has faced criticism from within Republican circles for not taking action sooner.
But three days out from his State of the Union Address, and with speculation mounting as to whether he'll announce he's running for a second term, Mr Biden wanted the world to know he was not hesitant to send China a strong message.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated the balloon had been launched by and belonged to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
"The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above US territorial waters," he said in a statement.
"On Wednesday, President Biden gave his [authorisation] to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon's path.
"After careful analysis, US military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload."
Mr Austin said the US coordinated with the Canadian government in the task, thanking the country for its contributions of tracking and analysis.
The balloon had been flying at about 60,000 feet and was estimated to be about the size of three school buses.
After the balloon was shot down, an operation to recover the debris from US territorial waters ensued.
Ahead of the interception, traffic at several airports in North and South Carolina was grounded and airspace off the Carolinas' coast was restricted.
After the balloon was shot down, police in South Carolina warned civilians against touching any balloon debris that may reach the state's coastline.
"Debris should not be touched, moved, or removed," the Horry County Police Department Facebook post read, urging locals to contact police if they encounter debris.
"Such items are part of a federal investigation and tampering could interfere in that investigation."
China has insisted the balloon was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and had only limited "self-steering" capabilities.
The United States says it was a Chinese spy balloon, without a doubt.
Its presence prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a weekend trip to China that was aimed at dialling down tensions between the countries.
The Pentagon says the balloon, which was carrying sensors and surveillance equipment, was manoeuvrable and showed it could change course.
It loitered over sensitive areas of Montana where nuclear warheads are siloed, leading the military to take actions to prevent it from collecting intelligence.
The Pentagon on Thursday said it was not a military or physical threat — an acknowledgement that it was not carrying weapons.
But even if the balloon was not armed, it posed a risk to the US, according to retired Army General John Ferrari, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
The flight itself, he said, could be used to test America's ability to detect incoming threats and to find holes in the country's air defence warning system.
It may also have allowed the Chinese to sense electromagnetic emissions that higher-altitude satellites cannot detect, such as low-power radio frequencies that could help them understand how different US weapons systems communicate.
He said the Chinese may have sent the balloon "to show us that they can do it, and maybe next time it could have a weapon. So now we have to spend money and time on it [developing defences]".
The Pentagon has assessed that this balloon was part of a fleet of Chinese spy balloons.
On Friday, it said another Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America.
