The US military has confirmed that the sensors from the first suspected Chinese spy balloon have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.
Experts from the FBI are examining the items, which the US say were used to spy on sensitive military sites.
The downing of the balloon on February 4 has been followed by a further three unidentified objects being shot down over North American air space.
Off the coast of South Carolina, crews have recovered “all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” according to a statement on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) from NORAD and US Northern Command.
The weeks-long succession of objects, starting with a giant white orb first detected over US skies in late January, has puzzled American officials and stirred curiosity around the world.
Though the three most recent objects differed in size, maneuverability and other characteristics from the surveillance balloon shot down on February 4 off the Carolina coast, officials moved to eliminate each one from the sky — actions that Pentagon officials believe have no peacetime precedent.
One possibility that the US has been able to rule out is any connection to extraterrestrial activity, the White House said on Monday, tamping down lighthearted public speculation about aliens and outer space.
“I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no – again, no – indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
China has alleged that more than 10 US high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission.
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American officials have vigorously denied the claim.
The latest of the three objects was shot down on Sunday over Lake Huron after being detected a day earlier over Montana.
On Friday, the North American Aerospace Defence Command, the combined U.S.-Canada organization known as NORAD that provides shared defence of airspace over the two nations, detected and shot down an object near sparsely populated Deadhorse, Alaska.
Later that evening, NORAD detected a second object flying at a high altitude over Alaska, US officials said.
It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday and was over the Yukon, a remote territory, when it was ordered shot down by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
None of the three most recent objects has been recovered, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
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