The alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. earlier this year did not collect intelligence as it traveled across the United States, the Pentagon has said, months after the incident sent Sino-U.S. relations into a tailspin.
“We were aware that it had intelligence collection capabilities, but it has been our assessment now that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, said Thursday.
A preliminary analysis of the balloon by U.S. authorities showed that it included a combination of U.S.-made off-the-shelf equipment as well as sophisticated Chinese gear that allowed it to take photos, videos and other information, media reports said earlier this week, contradicting Chinese claims that it was a weather device blown off course.