The U.S. Department of Defense revealed Friday that the suspected Chinese spy balloon that is flying over the United States has the ability to maneuver and has changed direction at 60,000 feet.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder would not say how the balloon could be maneuvered and refused to state if the communist Chinese government was in control of the balloon.
Ryder also refused to state if President Joe Biden is even considering shooting down the balloon as it flies over U.S. soil.
Ryder said that the balloon was “maneuverable” and that it the Pentagon assesses that “it will probably be over the United States for a few days.”
“We know that balloon has violated US airspace and international law — which is unacceptable. And we’ve conveyed this directly to the PRC on multiple levels,” he told reporters Friday. “The fact is, we know that it’s a surveillance balloon, and I’m not going to be able to be more specific than that.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a statement that the balloon was a “civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.”
The statement claimed that the balloon “deviated far from its planned course.” The distance from China to Montana is approximately 5,000 miles.
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