Americans breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. The balloon had floated almost entirely across the country after it was first sighted in Montana.
The Biden administration refrained from shooting down the balloon while it was over land, despite it moving past several military installations, because of concerns that the debris from the airship could cause collateral damage to civilians below. The U.S. quickly began to collect the debris from the craft to discern what kind of tech it carried.
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