The remains of the China spy flight shot down by the U.S. over the Atlantic Ocean this past weekend are heading to an FBI processing lab in Quantico, Virginia, senior U.S. government sources tell Fox News.
A top general said Monday that the U.S. is investigating whether it was carrying explosives, describing it as 200-feet tall, weighing thousands of pounds and with a payload the size of a jetliner.
‘So, I can’t confirm whether it had explosives or not. Anytime you down something like this, we make an assumption that that potential exists,’ said Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command, on a briefing call with reporters.
‘We did not associate the potential of having explosives with a threat to dropping weapons, those kinds of things, but out of a precaution, abundance of safety for not only our military people and the public, we have to make assumptions such as that.’
The general’s description followed a briefing by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby said that the spy balloon had propellers and a rudder to help it navigate its way, but its maneuverability was reportedly limited.
“They utilize their maneuverability to strategically position themselves to utilize the winds to traverse portions of countries that they want to see for collection purposes,” VanHerck added.
Video of balloon debris was shared by South Carolina news outlets, coming in on a boat near North Myrtle Beach on Sunday.
The debris field is the size of ‘more than 15 football fields by 15 football fields, according to the Pentagon.
VanHerck said the majority of the debris had been collected, but there was a possibility some could come ashore, and warned people to call the authorities and stay away from it.
‘Our efforts to surveil this balloon and what we will learn from the recovery will prove to be valuable,’ he said.
