China 'detects UFO' in airspace days after US shoots down 'spy balloon'

China is getting ready to take down a UFO spotted over the water near the port city of Qingdao, local media has reported.

An employee at the marine development authority in East China's Shandong Province announced on Sunday that they had spotted it flying in waters near the coastal city of Rizhao.

They said “relevant authorities” are preparing to bring down the unidentified flying object, according to the Global Times.

They did not say what the object was, but fishermen in the area have been told to be careful about safety.

The balloons did not represent a major breach of security, according to the White House (EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock)

It comes just days after the US and Canada brought down three high-altitude airborne objects, including one the US said was sent deliberately by China for surveillance.

The so-called spy balloon is thought to have floated across 150 nuclear weapons silos at the Malmstrom Air Force Base, in Montana, and US Strategic Command, in Nebraska, which controls the country’s nuclear force.

It floated from 28 Jan to 4 Feb and was eventually shot down off the South Carolina coast.

Three airports were shut and airspace was closed off the coast of North and South Carolina as the military carried out the operation on Saturday.

The balloon posed a "reasonable threat" to the safety of civilian flights in Alaska (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The military is now trying to recover debris which is spread over seven miles, so they can investigate the balloon further.

A senior State Department official said that the balloon “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations” and was part of a fleet that had flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents.”

The Biden administration has determined that the Chinese balloon was operating with electronic surveillance technology capable of monitoring US communications, according to the official.

The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he would have similarly brought down the balloon had it threatened the UK.

“I would have recommended it were shot down at the most appropriate moment when we could have acquired the most appropriate levels of intelligence from it", he said.

He also said that he thought China would have already sent a spy satellite over Britain.