Gen. Pat Ryder said the Defense Department was aware of reports of another balloon “transiting Latin America.
On Friday afternoon, Ryder told reporters that the Pentagon "will continue to monitor and review options.".
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it was working with the Pentagon "to support any needed US government response.".
“It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.
The Pentagon assessed the balloon to be roughly the size of at least two school buses, one U.S. official said.
The Pentagon said Thursday that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was hovering over the area.
Several Republican lawmakers criticized the administration's response as well, with Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas saying Biden “should stop coddling and appeasing the Chinese communists. »