US parts in China spy balloon: feds

WASHINGTON — China used American technology in its spy balloon that snooped on US military bases earlier this year, a federal investigation analyzing the object’s debris has found.

Preliminary findings of the probe conducted by defense and intelligence agencies and the FBI and reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday held that the balloon was carrying commercial products — some available online — as part of what President Biden described last week as “two boxcars full of spy equipment.”

The US gear was intermixed with “more specialized Chinese sensors and other equipment” with the purpose of snapping photos and capturing videos and other information to transmit to Beijing, according to the Journal.

The Defense Department does not believe the craft collected data while it was flying over US territory, Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday.

Ryder declined to provide specifics about the balloon’s payload but said it would not be the first time American products have been used in intelligence schemes.

“We are aware in previous cases — for example, things like drones and other capabilities, what have you — where off-the-shelf, commercial US components have been used in capabilities,” he told reporters. “So, that in and of itself, is not surprising.”

The revelation comes nearly five months after the military retrieved the payload’s remnants from the Atlantic Ocean following the Air Force’s takedown of the spy device off South Carolina’s coast on Feb. 4.