China says it reserves right to respond to downing of surveillance balloon
The balloon's flight over the U.S. added tension to the U.S.-China relationship.
A massive Chinese surveillance balloon that moved across the continental U.S. this week has been shot down.
The Pentagon has confirmed the balloon was being used for surveillance, disputing China's claim that it was a civilian aircraft used for meteorological purposes. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the balloon didn't pose a physical or military threat, and once it was detected, the U.S. took steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.
The FBI is expected to take custody of any recovered components of the balloon and ship them to its lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis and intelligence gathering, a senior government official told ABC News.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned trip to China as the balloon's presence over the continental U.S. added new tension to the U.S.-China relationship. Blinken called the balloon a "clear violation" of U.S. sovereignty and international law.
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Balloon shot down in US airspace: Official
The Chinese surveillance balloon has been shot down in U.S. airspace, according to a senior U.S. official.
It is expected to land in U.S.territorial waters, the official said, adding that airspace will be reopened once it's in the water.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin
FAA airspace restrictions extended until 3:30 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration has closed additional airspace to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort. The agency also paused departures from and arrivals to Wilmington, Myrtle Beach International and Charleston International airports.
The Temporary Flight Restriction is now in effect until 3:30 p.m.
-ABC News' Amanda Maile
FAA issues air space closure for parts of Carolinas
The Federal Aviation Administration has closed airspace in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina. All operations at Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington airports have been paused for national security initiatives.
The alerts are in effect until 2:45 p.m.
The balloon was spotted Saturday over parts of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Northern Greenville county in South Carolina.
-ABC News' Sam Sweeney
Biden on Chinese spy ballon: 'We're going to take care of it'
President Joe Biden on Saturday made his first public comments on the Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the continental U.S.
Biden, who is traveling to New York, was asked by a reporter if there were plans to shoot the balloon down.
"We're going to take care of it," he responded.
'The whole house just shook': Witness tells of balloon take down
A South Carolina woman had a front row seat to the military missile strike on a suspected Chinese spy balloon, describing a "loud boom" that rattled her home.
"It literally just flew right over our development, our house," the witness, Liane Munier of Myrtle Beach, told ABC News. "As soon as I walked outside, I literally looked straight up in the sky and it was right above my head."
Munier said it appeared the balloon traveled just offshore when several military fighter jets swooped in and shot it down.
"I was outside, I was watching it. You saw all the fighter jets flying around it and circling it, you saw all the air streams. I think there were about five of them. I went back inside for a second and all of a sudden the whole house just shook that it was like a loud boom," said Munier, who recorded video of the midair episode on her cell phone.
Munier said she initially thought a TV fell off the wall in her daughter's upstairs bedroom, but when she went back outside, she saw smoke in the sky and "you saw the whole thing deflated."
"I knew they were planning on shooting it down, but I didn't think it would be this soon and this close to land," Munier said.
She said it was a relief to her and many of her neighbors to see the balloon shot out of the sky.
"It was nerve-wracking seeing it fly over," Munier said. "I'm sure the whole country felt like that, not knowing what it was."