Last Updated: February 23, 2023, 10:22 IST
Washington, United States
The balloon was first spotted by the US on January 28 and ultimately shot down by the US military. (Credits: Twitter/Forbes)
The photo captured a week after the balloon entered the US airspace near Alaska and fighter jets were scrambled for positive identification
The US Defense Department has released a selfie taken by the pilot in the cockpit of the U-2 spy plane as it flew above the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by the US.
The selfie shows the shadow of the aircraft on the balloon and a clear image of the balloon’s payload as it crossed across the continental United States, CNN reported.
The photo shows the mysterious, silvery-white sphere of the balloon with panels dangling.
The balloon was first spotted by the US on January 28 and ultimately shot down by a US fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb 5 after it had crossed much of the country.
📸: The Pentagon has provided & confirmed authenticity of this selfie taken by a U-2 pilot flying by the Chinese surveillance balloon.CNN reported earlier this month that the photo had reached legendary status in the Pentagon and NORAD. pic.twitter.com/BWRiSxADSO
— Haley Britzky (@halbritz) February 22, 2023
The photo shows the pilot flying above the balloon, which was at an altitude of 60,000 feet, over Montana. The photo captured a week after the balloon entered the US airspace near Alaska and fighter jets were scrambled for positive identification.
Earlier this month, US official said he balloon’s payload equipment “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons.”
According to the official, the spy balloon had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications and it was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors.
The U-2 is a single-seat, high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft with “glider-like characteristics.”
After the US jet downed the balloon, it has recovered important sensor and electronics parts from the suspected craft.
American warplanes have downed three other objects since then — one near Alaska, another over Canada and a third over Lake Huron. Pieces of the debris were transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia to be studied further.
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