A Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, home to many of the U.S.’ sensitive nuclear sites on February 1st. The Chinese government claimed that the balloon was simply a weather balloon that blew off course, but many U.S. officials have dismissed this claim as they believed it was evidently a spying tool. 

Defense officials revealed that the balloon first entered US airspace on January 28th near the Aleutian Islands, before moving to Canadian airspace three days later. It re-entered the US on January 31st, where it was seen over Montana. The balloon was ultimately safely shot down by F-22 fighter jets over the Atlantic ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th. 

President Biden has been criticized for his lack of action, as the balloon remained in the air three days after it was spotted. “If it was [a spy balloon], and if we were aware of the balloon, I think we should have taken steps to prevent it from entering our air space, and I’m not sure that we should have allowed it to simply cross over the country, cross over what were obviously sensitive military sites,” former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told CNN’s Jim Acosta. “I don’t see the logic of that.”

The Chinese foreign ministry has expressed “strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft… The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident.” 

This has not been the first time the Chinese government has seemingly lost a weather balloon. During Trump’s presidency three balloons entered U.S. airspace and there is currently a balloon traveling over South America, according to the Pentagon. 

United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, was planning to visit China but canceled the trip and told Beijing it was “an irresponsible act.” It would have been the first of such high-level US-China meetings in years. China played down the cancellation of his visit, saying in a statement on Saturday that neither side had formally announced a plan for a trip. 

Capital hill is preparing to be briefed and vote on the country’s response as tensions have been exacerbated between the U.S. and China due to this incident.