China balloon: Many questions about suspected spy in the sky

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive white orb that drifted across U.S. airspace and was shot down by the military has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and blown up on social media. The Pentagon says it was a Chinese spy balloon and that its presence led Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China that was aimed at easing tensions between the countries. China says the balloon was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research and that it went off course due to winds. It took a single missile shot to take it down in the waters off South Carolina.