VIEW FROM TOP OF POP
Air Force closeup with China balloon
Smile and say “balloon!” The Defense Department Wednesday released stunning images taken by a U-2 surveillance pilot of the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.
The photos represent the closest look yet at the craft — which officials estimated to be about 200 feet tall, weigh thousands of pounds and carry a payload the length of a regional jet.
The shots were taken Feb. 3, the day before two US Air Force F-22 fighter jets shot down the balloon off Myrtle Beach, SC. The shot of a U-2 pilot looking at the balloon was published Tuesday on the blog Dragon Lady Today, run by British aerospace journalist Chris Pocock. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh confirmed the image’s authenticity Wednesday.
The photos were taken by a second pilot inside the aircraft, ABC News reported. While U-2 jets typically only have one seat, the one used to monitor the Chinese balloon was a two-seat trainer.
The U-2’s shadow can be seen on the billowing white balloon, which was attached to a payload of surveillance equipment powered by solar panels.
U-2 spy planes, flown by the Air Force in Cold War missions since the 1950s, can cruise for hours above 70,000 feet — enabling the pilots to get above the balloon as it neared the East Coast of the US.
President Biden was criticized for waiting to down the balloon until it was over the Atlantic Ocean, but defense officials have said the added time allowed the military to collect more information about China’s surveillance program by observing the device.
After recovering fallen debris on Feb. 16, the balloon and its payload are now under inspection at the FBI Lab in Quantico, Va.