NORFOLK, Va. — A team of sailors assigned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek fished what is believed to be the high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon out of the Atlantic a day after it was shot down, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Photos released by the U.S. Navy show the sailors, who were assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 and the USS Carter Hall, working to pull the balloon into their boat sometime Sunday.
It was brought down around 2:40 p.m. Saturday by an F-22 Raptor fighter from Langley Air Force Base’s 1st Fighter Wing, Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, said Monday. The AIM-9X Sidewinder missile was fired at the large white orb, scattering debris about 6 miles off the South Carolina coast.
