First close-up images of Chinese spy balloon in dramatic night-time recovery

The first images of the Chinese spy balloon recovered in a night operation, and the F-22 Raptor that shot it down, have emerged. See the pictures and hear the pilots.

The first photos of the massive Chinese spy balloon shot down over the Atlantic have been revealed after a dramatic night-time operation to recover sensitive military intelligence.

It comes amid reports that at least three previous incursions of similar surveillance satellites went undetected or were dismissed as UFOs, or “unidentified aerial phenomena” in Pentagon parlance.

The US air force also released images of the F-22 Raptor taking off from Joint Base Langley-Eustis on its way to shooting down the balloon with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, which China demanded to be returned to Beijing.

“The airship does not belong to the US. It belongs to China,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said early Wednesday.

US Navy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picture: Supplied

US Navy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picture: Supplied

US Navy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picture: Supplied

US Navy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picture: Supplied

The surface area wreckage was recovered after the balloon was shot down by the F-22 Raptor, which took off from Langley Air Force Base on Saturday, February 5. It was the first air-to-air strike of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, which debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq a decade ago.

That night, the US Navy dispatched sailors from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2. The balloon is thought to have carried high explosives to be used to self destruct. The images were thought to have been taken in the early hours of Sunday morning (local time).

The F-22 Raptor taking off from Joint Base Langley-Eustis. Picture: USAF Airman 1st Class Mikaela Smith

The F-22 Raptor taking off from Joint Base Langley-Eustis. Picture: USAF Airman 1st Class Mikaela Smith

Audio recordings of communications between several pilots revealed the moment when the F-22 stealth fighter travelling at Mach 1.3, call sign FRANK 1, shot the balloon at a distance of about 8 kilometres.

“FRANK01 is switches hot,” the pilot can be heard saying before pulling the trigger. “FRANK01. Splash one!” he says after impact, using code for shooting down enemy aircraft.

The audio, recorded by Ken Harrell, a military aviation radio monitor from South Carolina and published by War Zone, also captures two F-15C fighter jets that backed up the two F-22s, in case they missed. Their call signs were EAGLE 1 and EAGLE 2.

“That’s a t-kill. The balloon is completely destroyed,” EAGLE 2 says.

“There appears to be metal chaff clouds … It’s definitely metal breaking apart,” EAGLE 1 replies.

The US Air Force also deployed at least two U-2S Dragon Lady spy planes to monitor the balloon as it flew across the Midwest, according to The War Zone. They’re the only planes in the US military that can fly at the same 70,000 feet heights as the balloon.

The moment a US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon. Picture: Angela Mosley

A U-2 Dragon Lady takes off from Royal Air Force Fairford, Gloucestershire, England. Picture: AFP

The US Coast Guard imposed a temporary security zone in the waters around the wreckage, which US officials have said could contain valuable military intelligence on China’s spying operation and global network of surveillance satellites.

Intelligence already gathered from “additional means of collection” determined at least three previous incursions that were not detected by US defences, according to General Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon’s Northern Command.

Brad A. Fancher, commanding officer of the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, observes the debris field. Picture: AFP

US Navy, Seaman Rafael Mendez stands watch aboard the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall. Picture: AFP

Some of the previous breaches of US airspace were initially classified as “unidentified aerial phenomena” and handed over to the Pentagon’s task force responsible for investigating UFOs, according to an anonymous official quoted in The New York Times.

Some have since been reclassified as Chinese surveillance satellites, including at least one during the administration of Joe Biden and three during the administration of Donald Trump.

Officials did not specify where the balloons, described as passing over the continental US, were spotted.

A US military intelligence report from April 2022, titled “People’s Republic of China High-Altitude Balloon,” mentioned sightings in Hawaii and Florida in 2019, according to an excerpt of the report reviewed by CNN.

The US Air Force document states a Chinese spy balloon “circumnavigated the globe” at an altitude of roughly 65,000 feet, and “drifted past Hawaii and across Florida before continuing its journey.

The report said China“deployed multiple HABs [high altitude balloons] that can operate at 65,000ft — 328,000ft and for months at a time”.