An explosive ordnance disposal team was combing the debris field off the coast of South Carolina where a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the weekend, NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck told a conference in press on Monday.
An F-22 fighter jet fired a Sidewinder missile Saturday afternoon at the surveillance balloon, which weighed a couple thousand pounds, stood about 200 feet tall and had a payload about the size of a passenger plane. .
A debris field about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters now stretches across shallow water six miles offshore. The USS Carter Hall is on the scene sorting the debris, along with the USNS Pathfinder, a ship that is capable of oceanographic, hydrographic and bathymetric surveys of the ocean floor.
Commander Brad A. Fancher, commanding officer of the USS Carter Hall, views the debris field where a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down on Saturday. (US Navy photo by Lt.jg Jerry Ireland)
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An explosive ordnance disposal team was using unmanned underwater vehicles to “do further categorization of potential threats, such as explosives that may be ignited, hazardous materials that could be in batteries.”
“So the glass from the solar panels, potentially hazardous material, such as the material that is required for batteries to work in an environment like this and even the possibility of explosives going off and destroying the balloon that could have been present,” said Gen. VanHerck said Monday.
A US Air Force pilot takes off in an F-22 Raptor at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., Saturday before shooting down the Chinese surveillance balloon. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Mikaela Smith)
Once the debris is collected, it will be sent to an FBI processing lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis, senior US government sources previously told Fox News.
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The surveillance flight first crossed Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on January 28, but NORAD took no immediate action because the balloon “did not demonstrate a hostile act or hostile intent,” Gen. VanHerck said.
It was seen on February 1 over Montana, which is home to nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base, then traversed the continental US before being shot down on Saturday.
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Republican lawmakers have harshly criticized President Biden for waiting days to shoot down the balloon. The president said he wanted to shoot down the balloon last Wednesday, but the military warned him it wasn’t safe to do so yet.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said the full Senate will be briefed on the balloon on Thursday. The Gang of Eight could be informed as soon as Tuesday.
