Chinese Spy Balloons Found Over Middle East, According to U.S. Air Force; China Accuses U.S. Of Sending Surveillance Craft

Chinese spy balloons were discovered over the Middle East, but the surveillance craft did not pose any threat to the United States or allied forces, according to U.S. Air Force.

Commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, noted that they have seen high-altitude balloons in the region before but have not been a threat, according to Fox News.

Grynkewich added that those have "not been something of concern for us."

Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said last week that the surveillance program operates over at least five continents, such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Europe.

The first Chinese spy balloon was shot down on February 4 over the Atlantic Ocean. It entered American airspace on January 28 and was found flying over Montana, as reported by The New York Times.

The first discovery of the spy balloon prompted State Secretary Antony J. Blinken to cancel his scheduled trip to China.

On February 10, an unidentified flying object was shot down off Alaska and over Canada on February 11.

Recently, an object was shot down over Michigan's Lake Huron. The object was reported to have first appeared over Montana.

China Accusing U.S.

China claimed on Monday that the United States had deployed spy balloons into Chinese airspace more than 10 times since January 2022 without the Chinese government's permission.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, also noted that the U.S. was using warships and planes to collect intelligence on China 657 times since the start of 2022, as reported by NPR.

Wang went on to say that it was proof that the United States is "without a doubt the world's largest surveillance habitual offender and surveillance empire."

The Chinese official further said that the United States should first look at itself and change course instead of "smear and instigate a confrontation."

The spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, John Kirby, refuted claims made against the U.S.

Is There a Chinese Spy Balloon Over Latin America?

The Colombian Air Force and Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Authority both confirmed that they monitored a balloon similar to the one spotted over the U.S. airspace.

However, they did not attribute the suspected flying objects to China

Meanwhile, Beijing has admitted that the balloons seen over the skies of Latin America belong to China.

A Chinese spokesperson noted that it was used for flight tests, marking the first time that China admitted to owning the balloons over two Latin American countries.

Colombia's air force noted in a brief statement that it was possible the balloon had been detected by its air defense system on Friday morning.

U.S. officials claimed that the balloon was being used for surveillance, while China condemned the U.S. for shooting down the aircraft.

Beijing claimed that the balloon was for civilian use and that it flew into U.S. airspace by mistake.

READ MORE: Downed Chinese Spy Balloon Being Recalled by China After U.S. Navy's Recovery of Surveillance Craft

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Search underway for debris from 3 unidentified objects shot down by the US | ABCNL - from ABC News