The Chinese spy balloon shot down by the US transmitted information and images to Beijing in real time

3 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Chinese spy balloon shot down on February 4 in Atlantic waters after crossing the entire US territory was able to transmit information and images in real time to Beijing, according to sources.

However, the US secret services are not very concerned about the information harvested, since the devices carried by the balloon did not have technology that could collect much broader data than what Beijing already obtains with satellites in orbit.

In addition, the source has highlighted that by knowing the trajectory of the balloon they were able to protect the most sensitive places and censor some signals to avoid detection.

Meanwhile, the FBI continues to investigate the balloon itself, the software algorithms, the power systems, and the general design of the device.

The United States would also have a tracking system capable of locating and monitoring an entire fleet of Chinese balloons deployed around the world.

Washington believes the spy balloon fleet is based on the southern island of Hainan and has carried out at least two dozen missions on five continents in the past year. Six of these flights would have been in US airspace, but not necessarily over US territory.

China maintains that it is a meteorological probe that strayed by accident, despite the fact that the device had a flight direction system that was used when it was over the state of Montana.