By dreamsforce.com

Beijing has claimed that a suspected Chinese 'spy' balloon detected in US airspace was engaged in weather monitoring and accidentally flew into the country. BBC News.

After detecting the balloon on Thursday, the Pentagon said the Chinese intelligence balloon was flying over "highly sensitive" US military and nuclear installations. But China claimed on Friday that the balloon sent to observe the weather had mistakenly landed in the United States.

A statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the balloon was originally launched for weather observation. But it went to the United States instead of taking a specific route. Beijing expressed regret that the balloon accidentally flew into the country's airspace.

"The balloon's ability to fly on its trajectory is limited," the statement added, claiming the balloon took a wrong turn in the air. In this situation unexpected wind takes place. This changes the trajectory of the balloon. Unexpectedly, it went into US airspace.''

Earlier, a senior Pentagon official said that at the direction of President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and senior military officials discussed bringing down the balloon. However, this was not done considering the damage to the people living in the area where the balloon was flying.

Officials said the Chinese balloon was spotted in the skies over the northwestern United States. The area has US forces airfields, and underground strategic missile facilities. The balloon was meant to monitor highly sensitive areas, said an official on condition of anonymity.

However, the Pentagon is reluctant to consider the detection of a Chinese balloon in the US airspace as a 'dangerous intelligence threat'. A senior US Defense Department official previously said on condition of anonymity, "The Chinese spy balloon identified a few days ago has entered US airspace. Our intelligence has been able to detect it. But the balloon will not be able to gather much intelligence."

Pentagon officials spotted the balloon in the sky over western Montana. After that, Lloyd Austin discussed with senior Pentagon officials last Wednesday the option of shooting down the balloon at Biden's direction. But Austin was visiting the Philippines at the time.

Later fighter jets were sent to check the latest movement and activity of the balloon. The official said the Pentagon has backed away from the decision to destroy the Chinese balloon. The decision was taken to protect people on the ground from being hit by debris. And the balloon is flying high. So there is no risk of damage to commercial aircraft.