The Pentagon said on Thursday that it was following a Chinese spy balloon that was flying high above the United States and seemed to be watching nuclear weapons sites that were very sensitive.
A senior defense official told reporters that, at President Joe Biden's request, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and high-ranking military personnel considered shooting the balloon down but decided that doing so would put too many people on the ground in danger.
According to the official, the balloon passed over sensitive airbases and underground silos housing strategic missiles in the northwest of the United States.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated, "Clearly, the intent of this balloon is for surveillance, and the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites."
However, the Pentagon did not consider it to be a particularly risky intelligence threat.
According to the official, "We assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective."
The official stated that the balloon entered US airspace "a couple days ago," adding that US intelligence had been following it for a long time before that.
On Wednesday, Austin, who was in the Philippines at the time, talked to high-ranking Pentagon officials after Biden asked what the options were for dealing with it.
However, the official stated that the decision made by the Pentagon was "not to take kinetic action due to the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field."
The official added that it was flying at an altitude that did not pose a threat to commercial aviation.In the past, China has flown surveillance balloons over the United States.However, the official stated that this one has remained much more isolated in US airspace.
The official stated, "We are taking steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information."
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