Chinese Spy Balloon Discovered Floating Over Montana of the US
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The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days.
Defence officials said they were confident the "high-altitude surveillance balloon" belonged to China. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana.
The military decided against shooting it down in case debris falls.
China warned against speculation and "hype" until the facts are verified.
The object flew over Alaska's Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over the city of Billings in Montana on Wednesday, US officials said.
A senior defence official said the government prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, in case the White House ordered the object to be shot down.
Canada said on Friday that it was monitoring "a potential second incident" involving a surveillance balloon, but did not say which country could be behind it.
The defence department, however, said there was no "significantly enhanced threat" of US intelligence being compromised, because American officials "know exactly where this balloon is and exactly where it's passing over".
there was also no threat to civilian aviation as the balloon was "significantly" above the altitude used by commercial airlines.