US officials believe a Chinese balloon that was shot down after crossing the continental United States was originally on a trajectory that would have taken it over Guam and Hawaii, but was blown away by prevailing winds , a US official said on Wednesday , speaking on condition of anonymity .
The balloon, which Washington accuses Beijing of using for surveillance and China says was a civilian research vessel, drifted off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, then into Canada and the central United States, before it was recovered. It was shot down by the US military off the coast of South Carolina in February. 4.
The incident further strained US-China relations and prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing last week.