The Chinese spy balloon that intruded into U.S. airspace successfully collected intelligence from several military sites as the Biden administration deliberated for several days before shooting it down off the Carolina coast.
The balloon was steered over some military locations multiple times, even in figure eight formations, gathering data to send back to Beijing in real time, two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official told CNBC.
However, the Biden administration shifted around some potential targets and prevented them from broadcasting or emitting signals to be intercepted by the airship, reducing the amount of intelligence that was ultimately exported back to China, the officials said.
Four days after entering U.S. airspace, the balloon was hovering over Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which houses nuclear weapons systems.
Several Republican lawmakers immediately demanded the balloon be downed upon its discovery, but the military opted not to shoot it down until had drifted over the Atlantic to avoid civilian casualties and property damage. China deployed the balloon as part of a larger surveillance program run by the People's Liberation Army that has collected confidential information from multiple countries, U.S. officials said
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