• China’s foreign ministry apologized for what it called a civilian balloon that entered American airspace.
• The ministry said the airship has little ability to steer and “deviated significantly from its scheduled trajectory”.
• Due to worries about harming people on the ground, it chose not to shoot down the balloon.

China‘s foreign ministry apologized for what it called a civilian balloon that erred and entered American airspace.

The ministry claimed in a statement on Friday that the balloon that the US believed was being used for spying was actually a civilian “airship” that was being utilized for study, mostly for meteorological purposes.

According to the statement, the airship has little ability to steer and “deviated significantly from its scheduled trajectory” due to winds.

Prior to this, the Pentagon claimed to be “following a high-altitude surveillance balloon.” Due to worries about harming people on the ground, it chose not to shoot down the balloon, which might have been flying over sensitive locations.

Bystanders in the state of Montana were the first to notice the balloon, according media reporter, who was reporting from the White House in Washington, DC.

“It was spotted by people on the ground who were wondering what was in the sky. That is how the US government first learned about this, incredibly,” she said. “It was then that the US government started tracking it.”

“There are going to have to be some answers as to why it was bystanders who first spotted this and not the military or the US government,” added Halkett.

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