China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said the suspected spy balloon spotted over the U.S. was actually just civilian “airship” used mostly for meteorological research. In a statement, Beijing added that the airship had “deviated far from its planned course” due to winds and the craft’s limited steering powers. Chinese authorities apologized for what they described as an unintended intrusion into American airspace. Pentagon officials on Thursday said the suspected surveillance balloon spotted in Montana on Wednesday had floated over sensitive U.S. military sites this week having entered the country through Canada. In a statement late Thursday, Canada’s Department of National Defence said a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” had been detected and was being “actively tracked,” though it did not specify if this was the same balloon seen in the U.S. “Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,” the statement said without providing further details.
