Photos taken by US reconnaissance aircraft show that the devices fitted to the balloon were clearly made for observation for espionage purposes, the anonymous employee said. He points to the array of antennas, probably for picking up and tracking communications signals. The United States also believes that the balloon was part of a fleet of spy balloons sent by the Beijing regime to more than 40 countries on five continents.
The appearance of the huge Chinese observation balloon on American territory has further cooled the already frosty relations between the two countries. Beijing calls shooting down the balloon an overreaction.