Why the US has not shot down Chinese spy balloon yet?

The Chinese balloon hovering in the US skies does not pose any threat to the US, according to officials.

Washington, Feb 04: A Chinese spy balloon hovering in the US skies has garnered global headlines and one question that left many wondering is - why Washington has not shot it down yet.

The answer from Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder is that it does not pose a threat to a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Hence, the high-altitude surveillance balloon has not been shot down by the US.

Responding to a question, Ryder said that he is not going to provide further details other than to say that the North American Aerospace Defense Command continues to monitor it closely. The manoeuvrable Chinese surveillance balloon, which was over Montana (home to underground US military intercontinental ballistic missile silos) on Friday, was at an altitude of about 60,000 feet and floating over the center of the continental United States in an easterly direction, posing no risk to commercial aviation, military assets or people on the ground, said the Pentagon press secretary.

"While we won't get into specifics in regards to the exact location, I can tell you that the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the center of the continental United States. Again, we currently assess that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time, and we'll continue to review - or excuse me - continue to monitor and review options," a statement from the US Department of Defense said.

He was then asked whether there was any possibility of any nuclear or radioactive material aboard the balloon or was there anything that's aboard the balloon that could risk the US security if was not shot down.

"Short answer's no, but again, right now, we do not assess that the - the balloon, in its current configuration at approximately 60,000 feet, poses a physical or military threat to people on the ground," he added.

He also stated that the Chinese balloon has violated US airspace and international law, which is unacceptable and Washington has communicated it to Beijing at multiple levels. The balloon is carrying surveillance gear as well as a payload, Ryder said, but refused to elaborate about the payload. "Once the balloon was detected, we acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information," he added.

US Defense officials have also told CNN that the balloon does not pose a significant risk to the US. "Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here," the website quoted a senior defense official as saying. "So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not. So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn't worth it."

Another US official said, "This isn't like 'Top Gun' where it just explodes and doesn't go anywhere. It's large and it's metal, it would put hundreds of Americans at risk."

Meanwhile, a second Chinese spy balloon has been spotted, this time in the skies over Latin America, according to the Pentagon. "We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon," a website quoted Pentagon press secretary Brig Gen Patrick Ryder as saying in a statement to the news network.