The majority of evidence relating to the Chinese surveillance aircraft shot down over the U.S. last week is still underwater, FBI officials told Fox News.
Divers are currently salvaging the wreck area, described as a “large scale scene,” for debris, according to senior FBI officials. Diving operations are set to continue in the days and weeks ahead, as long as needed.
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The bureau also released fresh photos of the recovery effort.
(Off The Coast of South Carolina) – FBI Underwater Search Evidence Response Team (USERT) Members ready equipment to recover material from the ocean floor. (FBI)
(Washington, D.C) – FBI Special Agents assigned to the Evidence Response Team process material recovered from the High Altitude Balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina. The material was processed and transported to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, VA. – FBI Photo (FBI)
The FBI is currently analyzing recovered contents of the balloon at a lab in Quantico, Virginia, the officials said. The primary focus is on recovered electronics.
The bureau is also doing a decontamination process at Quantico with every piece recovered, including saltwater scrubbing.
The balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by U.S. military fighter jets on Saturday afternoon. A senior U.S. military official said that an F-22 was used to bring down the balloon at 58,000 feet with a single A9X missile.
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Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, while the Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall transits nearby, Feb. 5, 2023 (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)
(Off the Coast of South Carolina) – FBI Agents search for possible material if the High Altitude Balloon off the coast of South Carolina. (FBI)
(South Carolina) – FBI Evidence Response Team Members aboard a Department of Defense vessel assigned to recover efforts off the coast of South Carolina (FBI)
FBI specialists in Quantico are combing through debris recovered thus far — mostly electronics — via over 20 forensic disciplines.
All materials are undergoing an intense decontamination upon recovery, including a saltwater scrubbing.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning gestures during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Thursday, Oct 13, 2022. China said Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, it will “resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests” over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by the United States, as relations between the two countries deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Liu Zheng, File)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning voiced concern that media reports characterizing the balloon as a Chinese “threat” are deteriorating already strained U.S.-Chinese relations.
“I would also like to stress that exaggerating or hyping up the ‘China threat’ narrative is not conducive to building trust or improving ties between our two countries, nor can it make the U.S. safer,” Mao said Wednesday.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement after the balloon was shot down that “President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path.”
