The suspected Chinese spy balloon was seen Saturday morning hovering over North Carolina and South Carolina.
An Asheville-area resident Kim Hixson captured photos of the balloon at about 8:40 a.m. ET.
THOUSANDS MISTAKE US OWNED RESEARCH BALLOON FOR CHINESE SPY BALLOON
Over Biltmore Park right now pic.twitter.com/HC7uxAh4wp
— KHikes (@Kimhikes0) February 4, 2023
A Charlotte-based Meteorologist Brad Panovich snapped a photo of it over his neighborhood.
I see it now in my backyard in south Charlotte #ChinaSpyBalloon pic.twitter.com/DrhXZtIvEY
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) February 4, 2023
Other sightings occurred in Greenville, South Carolina, Saturday morning about 10 a.m. ET.
#balloongate #chineseballoon Balloon video from Greenville, South Carolina this morning. What’s really going on here? #NationalSecurity @CityGreenville @GvlPD @GvlCoSheriff pic.twitter.com/uV9rLmFtIU
— 106.3 WORD (@1063WORD) February 4, 2023
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ripped the U.S. response as the balloon flew over her state.
“China would never let a spy balloon fly through their airspace. No strong leader would. And now, it’s flying above South Carolina. Capture the balloon. See what they are collecting. Hold Xi accountable. We need American strength back,” Haley wrote on Twitter.
China confirmed Friday that it was their weather balloon over American airspace but claimed it was merely doing “weather research” when it had blown off course.
United States government officials are closely tracking the white “meteorological” balloon, flying at an altitude of around 60,000 feet, as it traveled from Alaska and was spotted about 4:21 p.m. ET Wednesday in Reed Point, Montana, moving southeastwardly across the continental U.S.
On Friday, it was filmed over Sabetha, Kansas, at 9:41 a.m. ET.
The suspected spy balloon sparked national security concerns and led Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to cancel a weekend diplomatic trip to Beijing after the balloon was sighted above Montana.
Blinken said that it was an “irresponsible act” and “created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip.”
There were many calls to shoot down the balloon, including presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump.
“SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
When President Joe Biden was asked about the balloon on Friday, he ignored questions and walked away from the podium.
Joe Biden completely ignores questions about the Chinese spy balloon. pic.twitter.com/riSY1dwSCN
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 3, 2023
When Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder was asked by a reporter Friday about the location of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, he told reporters that Americans can “look up in the sky and see” if they want to know where it is.
“The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is,” Ryder answered.
After questions from a reporter about whether the location of a reported Chinese spy balloon was classified, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said that the ‘public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky’ and see where it is https://t.co/clMmDmZnSh pic.twitter.com/XADlOHTnRu
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 3, 2023
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer cautioned that we don’t know what is inside the balloon if we were to shoot it down.
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“This balloon never should have happened. My concern is that the federal government doesn’t know what’s in that balloon. Is that bioweapons in that balloon?” Comer asked. “We don’t know anything about that balloon.”
The U.S. is reportedly waiting until the balloon is over the Atlantic Ocean to then try to shoot it down and retrieve it.
