Eyes on the sky as Chinese balloon shot down over Atlantic
Eyes on the sky as Chinese balloon shot down over Atlantic
Eyes were locked on the Carolina skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon ended its weeklong traverse over the U.S. when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean and was shot down by a fighter jet.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a crowd lining the beach boardwalk cheered as a missile from an F-22 fighter struck the balloon. It quickly deflated and plummeted to the ocean.
"That's my Air Force right there, buddy!" a person exclaims just after the missile's impact, in a video taken by tourist Angela Mosley.
Mosley said she came out of a store and saw four fighters circling, then saw the balloon. "One of the fighter jets gets going fast and gets closer to it, and then a boom and we knew it was gone."
Mosley said no boats appeared to be in the water beneath the balloon as the wreckage fell, but several aircraft arrived soon after. U.S. officials tried to time the operation so they could recover as much debris as possible before it sinks.
The manoeuvrable balloon had become a major flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing, and President Joe Biden faced pressure from Republicans in Congress to shoot it down. The administration waited until the balloon -- about the size of three school buses -- was over water because of risks to people on the ground from falling debris.
China said it was a weather research vessel blown off course, a claim rejected by U.S. officials who said the craft had been over areas of Montana where nuclear missiles are siloed.
As the balloon came over Myrtle Beach, software consultant Haley Walsh said she saw it floating in the clear blue sky. Walsh said she felt and heard a boom and ran outside where she saw the balloon tumbling down.
"I knew it was going over South Carolina, they were predicting it, but I didn't think it would go directly over," she said.
In Surfside Beach, South Carolina, photographer Travis Huffstetler set up on the roof of a condo to capture images of the balloon and said the beach was packed with people looking skyward and taking pictures and videos.
He got still shots of the balloon before and after its destruction, but missed the strike itself because he was on the phone.
"Aw, man, I just missed it," he says at the outset of a video he posted to social media.
Huffstetler said the plummeting balloon and debris looked like "confetti falling."
The balloon had entered the U.S. air defence zone north of Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28, crossed into Canadian airspace two days later and then back into the U.S. over northern Idaho on Tuesday, U.S. defence and military officials said. It was acknowledged by government officials Thursday, a day after commercial flights were temporarily halted at the airport in Billings, Montana, where people on the ground saw the balloon seemingly loitering high above the city.
Scattered sightings continued as it passed over the nation's heartland -- above Missouri and the Kansas City area Friday, North Carolina on Saturday morning and finally over the South Carolina coast.
In York County, South Carolina the county sheriff's office advised against anyone trying to take out the balloon on their own.
"Don't try to shoot it!!," the sheriff's office tweeted Saturday as the balloon passed over the region at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (18,600 meters). "Your rifle rounds WILL NOT reach it. Be responsible. What goes up will come down, including your bullets."
The fascination with the balloon that swept the nation also spawned false rumours that it had been shot down earlier in its journey.
An unverified video out of Billings claimed a "massive explosion" over the city Friday evening, two days after the balloon had passed over. The video was aired by Fox News, and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that he was "monitoring the situation."
It was viewed millions of times and local officials had to bat down speculation that a Chinese balloon had been shot down. The city of Billings issued a statement that declared "there have not been any explosions in, around, or across .Montana."
Another video purported to show the balloon brought down in North Carolina Friday afternoon -- about the same time people reported seeing it above Missouri.
Software engineer and storm chaser Brian Branch captured photographs of the balloon high above western North Carolina hours before it was taken out. He could see a payload hanging from the round, white orb and watched it for more than an hour before it drifted into the path of the sun.
"I let it just pass on by. If it was spinning, if it was a tornado, I would have chased it," he said.
------
James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Police are giving an update on last week's fire in Old Montreal that killed at least one person and left six missing. Fire services began partially dismantling the building over the weekend, uncovering one body Sunday evening. Several units in the building were unauthorized short-term rentals, or Airbnbs.
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.
Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 63 per cent in early trading Monday after the announcement that banking giant UBS would buy its troubled rival for almost US$3.25 billion in a deal orchestrated by regulators to stave off further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a national standardized testing process to be created in order to speed up the licensing process for doctors and nurses who are either immigrants or were trained abroad.
Police are giving an update on last week's fire in Old Montreal that killed at least one person and left six missing. Fire services began partially dismantling the building over the weekend, uncovering one body Sunday evening. Several units in the building were unauthorized short-term rentals, or Airbnbs.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Canada will make it easier for temporary residents from Turkiye and Syria to extend their stay in the country and will prioritize the visa applications of people from these two countries, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Saturday.
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China next week in what a spokesman called a bid to ease tensions between the self-ruled island and the mainland. Ma presided over a period of warm ties with Beijing, but left office under a cloud after a trade deal with the mainland failed to win approval.
Thailand's Parliament was dissolved Monday by a government decree, setting the stage for a May general election, which has the potential to lessen the military's influence in politics.
Police on Monday charged the first Australian veteran for an alleged murder in Afghanistan three years after a war crime investigation found that 19 Australian special forces soldiers could face charges for illegal conduct during the conflict.
A Ukrainian charity tells CTVNews.ca how women on the front lines of the war in Ukraine do not have proper equipment and are struggling with the realities of being in a conflict zone. Here are their stories.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
North Korea said Monday it simulated a nuclear attack on South Korea with a ballistic missile launch over the weekend that was its fifth missile demonstration this month to protest the largest joint military exercises in years between the U.S. and South Korea.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a national standardized testing process to be created in order to speed up the licensing process for doctors and nurses who are either immigrants or were trained abroad.
Canadians' satisfaction with our country continues to decline, especially when it comes to perceptions of our political institutions, according to a new national survey by Nanos Research. And younger Canadians have the bleakest view of the nation out of all age groups.
Joe Biden's last official visit to Canada came with a palpable sense of foreboding. Six years later, Biden is coming back -- this time as U.S. president -- and the world is very different. His message likely won't be.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
A Pentagon study has found high rates of cancer among U.S. military pilots and for the first time has shown that ground crews who fuel, maintain and launch those aircraft are also getting sick.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a national standardized testing process to be created in order to speed up the licensing process for doctors and nurses who are either immigrants or were trained abroad.
A slight increase in UFO sightings in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic years may not be because of the pandemic itself, but because of Elon Musk’s new internet satellites, researchers found.
Engineers at the University of Arizona have developed a system they say could allow autonomous vehicles to scout out habitats for astronauts in caves and other underground features by leaving a trail of 'breadcrumbs.'
A host of comedic and entertainment royalty gathered at Washington's Kennedy Center to present comedy icon Adam Sandler with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Many companies that emerged to manufacture and procure PPE in the early days of the pandemic have gone bust. But others with pre-existing product lines before pivoting to pandemic-related products have since managed to switch back, as supply lines and demand factors recovered and stabilized.
Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes.
Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 63 per cent in early trading Monday after the announcement that banking giant UBS would buy its troubled rival for almost US$3.25 billion in a deal orchestrated by regulators to stave off further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
Bear lovers rejoice: The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is hiring for 'professional bear huggers' with an adorable job listing posted on Facebook.
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
A week after breaking the record of Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin extended the all-time best mark for most career wins to 88 by winning the last race of the season, a giant slalom at the World Cup Finals on Sunday.
San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer won't take part in pregame warmups Saturday night, saying the team's decision to wear Pride-themed jerseys in support of the LGBTQ community runs counter to his religious beliefs.
Zlatan Ibrahimović's Instagram profile says he's a writer and on Saturday the Swede penned a new page in his remarkable career when he became the oldest ever goalscorer in Italy's Serie A.
Volkswagen plans to invest in mines to bring down the cost of battery cells, meet half of its own demand and sell to third-party customers, the carmaker's board member in charge of technology said.
