Chinese aeronautics engineers boasted about sending high-altitude devices over US airspace almost four years before American fighter jets shot down a suspected spy balloon on February 4.
Chinese scientist Wu Zhe in 2019 told state media that he and his team had successfully sent an airship called ‘Cloud Chaser’ on a round-the-globe flight which saw it pass over the mainland US at an altitude of 65,000ft.
At the time the scientist claimed such high-altitude devices could be used to provide early warnings of natural disasters, monitor pollution or carry out airborne surveillance, according to the New York Times.
A still from a video in 2019 showed a map of the world with a red line tracing its way across the globe and crossing over North America, which Wu claimed showed the trajectory of his Cloud Chaser.
