The U.S. Navy has ended operations to recover part of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier this month over the ocean off the South Carolina coast, the U.S. Northern Command said Friday.
"Recovery operations concluded Feb. 16 off the coast of South Carolina, after U.S. Navy assets assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully located and retrieved debris from the high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon shot down Feb. 4, 2023," it said in a statement.
"Final pieces of debris are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation, as has occurred with the previous surface and subsurface debris recovered," the statement said. "U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels have departed the area. Air and maritime safety perimeters have been lifted."
A Sailor assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 conducts a search for debris with an underwater vehicle during recovery efforts of a high-altitude balloon in the Atlantic Ocean, Feb. 7, 2023.
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Seelbach/U.S. Navy
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