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 with an F-22 Raptor on Saturday.
Recovery efforts are ongoing to salvage as much of the balloon's debris as possible for intelligence exploitation.
Officials confirmed the balloon's flight path, which included areas like a nuclear missile silo field in Montana, was strategically designed for collection purposes.
The balloon was a massive object, estimated to be 200 feet tall with a payload the size of a regional jet, creating a debris field about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters.

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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.