Beijing blames weather
China apologizes for balloon over Costa Rica
2/7/2023 5:14 am
After a Chinese balloon was shot down off the east coast of the USA, Costa Rica has now reported the sighting of a similar flying object. The Chinese embassy in the Central American country apologizes for the incident. The balloon was said to have gone off course due to the weather conditions.
A Chinese balloon has also been sighted over Costa Rica. This was confirmed by the Foreign Ministry of the Central American country on Monday (local time). The Chinese Embassy in San Jose regrets the incident. The balloon is for scientific purposes only and posed no danger. He deviated from his originally planned route because of the weather conditions and lack of controllability, the message said. It was initially unclear whether the sighted object was the same balloon that had previously flown over Colombia on Friday or another balloon.
Most recently, the US military shot down a Chinese observation balloon off the coast of South Carolina over the Atlantic. Beijing criticized the shooting down as an “obvious overreaction” that violated the spirit of international law. Washington accused China of wanting to use the balloon to spy on military installations. The government in Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had drifted far off course due to the westerly wind drift and insufficient navigation. A balloon from China was also spotted over Colombia.
The debris from the balloon is currently being recovered off the coast of South Carolina. Further details about the flying object were also announced on Monday. The balloon was about 200 feet tall and probably weighed as much as a small airliner, said US Northern Command commander Glen VanHerck.
It was also only shot above the water because it was feared that glass from solar panels or potentially dangerous material, for example from batteries, could have fallen down. It was also expected that explosives would detonate and the balloon could have been destroyed.