The White House said on Wednesday that Chinese "spy" balloons were spotted flying above five continents worldwide, and that the United States remains in contact with allies on this topic. The US military shot down the Chinese balloon that entered US airspace last week off the coast of South Carolina after President Joe Biden issued the order on Saturday.
The Pentagon separately revealed that there were Chinese balloon flights over the US before the latest accident, and that they were seen over locations that could be "of interest" to China. Meanwhile, China continued to claim that the balloon was only used for meteorological purposes, and that it mistakenly entered the US airspace due to "force majeure."