‘Fighter jets shoot down Chinese spy balloon’ After It Hovered Across The North American Continent From The West Coast To The East Coast

China threatens ‘resolute’ action as US warned to brace for ‘further provocations’ after spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina sparking race to salvage secret payload

Fighter jets shoot down Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina after Biden vowed to ‘take care of it’ and the FAA closed airspace and three airports 

‘Biden ‘WILL try to shoot down’ the Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic as it exits the east coast above the Carolinas at noon today’ Was Informed On Jan. 28 ‘opted not to inform the American public about it until the Billings Gazette published a photo of the balloon’

Biden ‘WILL try to shoot down’ the Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic as it exits the east coast above the Carolinas at noon today – so it can be captured and studied 

The aircraft (bottom right) was tracking towards the Carolinas this morning (left) and is due to exit the east coast by noon after passing over a sensitive nuclear missile site in Montana dubbed America’s ‘Doomsday Base’. The White House decided against shooting the balloon down over US soil over fears for American lives and sparking an international incident, a senior US official said. Now Pentagon officials are planning to shoot the balloon down so that it lands in US territorial waters. The action will require a substantial localized airspace shutdown in order to protect civilians, the source said. Spy balloons usually operate at altitudes of up to 120,000ft, but the Chinese aircraft has descended to around 46,000ft, meaning it is well within striking distance for an F-22 Raptor which can soar to 65,000ft. However, the mission is fraught with complexity. In 1998, the Canadian air force sent up F-18 fighter jets to try and shoot down a rogue weather balloon. They fired a thousand 20-millimeter cannon rounds into it before it finally sank six days later. It comes amid mounting pressure on Joe Biden (top right) as it emerged that a second Chinese spy balloon had been spotted over Latin America, passing over the Panama Canal and moving southeast over Venezuela. The President was last night slammed by the Governor of Montana over his inaction. Greg Gianforte said that as a result, ‘Americans are endangered and our enemies are emboldened.’