U.S. Military Collecting Debris From Downed Spy Balloon

The callsign of the F-22 that shot the balloon down paid homage to WWI fighter ace Frank Luke, who shot down German observation balloons.

Kimberly Johnson

Monday, February 06, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET

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An F-22 Raptor performs an aerial maneuver during a flight at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. [Courtesy: U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. military shot down a Chinese high-altitude spy balloon off the South Carolina coast after it traversed the country.
Recovery operations are ongoing to salvage the large balloon's debris (estimated 200 ft tall with a jet-sized payload) for intelligence exploitation.
Officials confirmed the balloon's flight path was intentionally designed for surveillance, including passing near sensitive U.S. sites like a nuclear missile silo field.

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U.S. military attempts to recover the Chinese high-altitude spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast by an F-22 Raptor Saturday remained ongoing Monday.

Military officials are attempting to salvage as much of the balloon as possible “and exploit that in any way we can,” General Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defence Command and U.S. Northern Command, said Monday afternoon at the Pentagon.