US 'mysterious balloon': Nearly three months after the first "mysterious balloon" was detected hovering over the skies of the United States, the Department of State has confirmed a similar object was detected over the Hawaii region.
The officials told NBC News that the military is tracking the mysterious object, but added it’s not clear what it is or whom it belongs to.
Also, unlike earlier, this time, the balloon did not go over any sensitive areas and the official asserted it poses no threat to aerial traffic or national security.
No Chinese link
As of now, US officials said it was not clear whether it is a weather balloon or it is linked with Chinese spy drones. However, the official said the Biden administration has a clear stance over such matter-- "Shoot".
This is a breaking story. More details will be added.
Chinese spy balloon row
It is worth mentioning an alleged Chinese "spy balloon" was detected hovering over the skies of the United States on January 28 this year, resulting in soaring tension between the two nations. This also prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his personal trip to Beijing.
Although Beijing accepted that the giant balloon was taken off from its territory but refuted the claims of sending spy equipment to the US. Instead, it termed the helium balloon a "weather data collector" and added it was floated towards the US by the flow of wind.
China too blamed US for breaching its airspace
Later, Beijing claimed Washington of breaching its airspace at least ten times in the past 13 months. According to China, the US high-altitude balloons illegally flew over Chinese airspace on more than 10 occasions without the approval of the relevant Chinese authorities.
The latest remarks from China came a day after the US fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron.
"The US has the world's largest surveillance network"
While addressing a press conference over the matter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the actions taken by the US reflected its own behaviour and added the Pentagon should look into its own actions instead of slandering, smearing and provoking confrontation. Although he did not comment on the latest Lake Huron incident but termed it an overreaction by US officials.
Furthermore, he claimed that Washington has the world's largest surveillance network and added the US has abused its technological advances against several countries.
