US Ends Search for Downed Chinese Balloon Debris, Other Objects

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, US, Feb. 4, 2023. (Reuters)
The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, US, Feb. 4, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Ends Search for Downed Chinese Balloon Debris, Other Objects

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, US, Feb. 4, 2023. (Reuters)
The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, US, Feb. 4, 2023. (Reuters)

The United States has ended its search for debris from an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down earlier this month as well as two other objects downed near Alaska and on Lake Huron, the military's Northern Command said Friday.

"Recovery operations concluded February 16 off the coast of South Carolina, after US Navy assets assigned to US Northern Command successfully located and retrieved debris from the high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon," NORTHCOM said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.

"Final pieces of debris are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation," it added.

The Chinese balloon traveled across much of the United States before it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by a US F-22 Raptor on February 4, said AFP.

Beijing insisted the device was for weather surveillance and had gone astray, while Washington described it as a sophisticated high-altitude spying vehicle.

Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly tense over the balloon incident.

Late Friday, NORTHCOM announced in another statement that it was ending searches for two other objects shot down -- one off Alaska's northern coast on February 10 and the other over Lake Huron on February 12.

"The US military, federal agencies, and Canadian partners conducted systematic searches of each area using a variety of capabilities, including airborne imagery and sensors, surface sensors and inspections, and subsurface scans, and did not locate debris," the statement said.

President Joe Biden in a press conference this week about the aerial objects said that preliminary evidence suggested the Alaska and Lake Huron incidents were not related to a broader Chinese spy program.



Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
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Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Four people are set to appear in a London courtroom on Thursday over charges connected with an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters damaged two Royal Air Force planes with red paint and crowbars.

The charges come after the group Palestine Action said two of its members entered RAF Brize Norton on June 20 and used electric scooters to approach two Voyager jets used for air-to-air refueling. The protesters used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray paint into the planes’ jet engines and caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage of the incident, The Associated Press said.

The four, all between the ages of 22 and 35, are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the UK, counter-terror police said in a statement. The Crown Prosecution Service will argue that that the offenses have a “terrorist connection,” police said.

Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for a series of incidents targeting Israeli defense contractors in the UK and other sites linked to the war in Gaza. Following the incident at RAF Brize Norton, the government introduced legislation to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. The measure means it will be a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action rejects that assertion, saying its protests are designed to end international support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Planes from Brize Norton, 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of London, regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain’s main air base for operations in the Middle East.