At the end of January, a large balloon that was later revealed to be a Chinese spy balloon showed up in the United States. airspace in Alaska. This was only the beginning of concerns for objects invading U.S. airspace.

Chinese officials claimed that the balloon was  a weather balloon that reared away from its course, however, U.S. government officials believe otherwise. 

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) began tracking the balloon, where it made its way into the continental U.S. in Montana at the beginning of February. After flying across the country at full speed, the balloon was shot down by a fighter jet in South Carolina. 

The balloon’s debris primarily landed in the ocean, but has since been recovered by the U.S. Navy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) diving teams. The debris was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia to be examined. 

According to State Department officials, there were various sets of advanced equipment including collection pods, solar panels, antennas, and other equipment used for surveillance and communications. 

On Feb. 10, the DOD shot down one unidentified object hovering over Alaska, followed by another in Canada on Feb. 11, and a third near Michigan on Feb. 12. 

The DOD reported that none of these were inherently threatening, but that they could still pose a risk to the flow of aircrafts. 

“Nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” President Joe Biden said in a public address on Feb. 16. 

Recovery of these objects is still ongoing, and they have yet to be identified. 

President Biden said that these are “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”