The Chinese balloon that traversed the U.S. was capable of collecting communications signals and was part of a military-led spy program that spanned more than 40 countries, officials in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said.
The Biden administration presented the new evidence in a U.S. State Department fact sheet on the balloon’s capabilities and in open hearings and closed briefings on Capitol Hill Thursday, as they sought to counter China’s insistence that it was a harmless weather-monitoring device that blew off course.
To make the case, the administration offered rarely disclosed details, including that high-resolution imagery provided by U-2 spy planes flying past the balloon revealed an array of surveillance equipment. That equipment could collect and geo-locate communications, and a solar array gave enough power to operate multiple collection sensors, officials said.