A pilot of a U-2 plane flying high above a Chinese spy balloon took a close-up photo of the massive white object one day before the US Air Force shot down the device off the coast of South Carolina. South.
The photograph shows the top of the pilot’s helmet inside the U-2 cockpit as the balloon flies below. It was taken on February 3 as the balloon “hovered over the center of the continental United States,” according to the caption provided by the Department of Defense. The Pentagon released the image on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the balloon grabbed international headlines as it flew over the United States.
An F-22 fighter jet brought down the balloon on February 4 by firing an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. The operation was carried out once the balloon was no longer on the mainland, but was still within the territorial waters of the United States.
The U-2, nicknamed the Dragon Lady, is an American spy plane that has been in service since the 1950s.
The Pentagon announced last Friday that Navy ships and submarines had finished recovering the huge balloon and its cargo, which fell to pieces over the Atlantic Ocean. The cargo was recovered from the ocean floor and is being analyzed by the FBI, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
After the incident, Air Force planes shot down three other smaller objects in a period of eight days: One over Alaska, one over Canada and one over Lake Huron. Searches for the downed objects over Alaska and Lake Huron have been completed.
