Chinese spy balloon seen above Hawaii and Florida in 2019, report says

Air force report details balloon while Pentagon officials say China had sent three over the US during Trump’s time in office

A Chinese spy balloon “drifted past Hawaii and across Florida” as it “circumnavigated the globe” in 2019, four years before the American military shot down another one this past weekend, according to a US air force intelligence report reviewed by CNN.

China “launched and controlled” the high-altitude balloon, which was “capable of operating at “65,000 ft – 328,000 ft and for months at a time”, in 2019, according to the report seen by CNN. The report did not make clear when the US became aware of the 2019 balloon.