The People's Republic of China confirmed Friday that the balloon craft floating over the northern United States is Chinese.
China claimed that the airship is a civilian research craft that was blown far off course by prevailing winds, and that it regrets the incident.
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ALSO MONITORING SUSPECTED CHINESE SPY BALLOON, SAYS 'CANADIANS ARE SAFE'.
It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed Friday.
"Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.".
The statement continued, "The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. »