China called the object spotted over the US a meteorological probe

An unidentified flying object, recorded earlier in the sky over the United States, is a Chinese meteorological probe that has lost control.

This was announced on Friday by the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"The balloon arrived from China, its purpose is of a civilian nature, in particular, the probe is used for meteorological research. Due to a strong westerly wind, the balloon lost control and deviated from the set course," the official representative of the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China quotes.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also expressed regret that the emergency situation led to the fact that the meteorological probe ended up in US airspace and expressed China's readiness to maintain contact with the US authorities to resolve the situation.
As previously reported by the press secretary of the US military department Patrick Ryder, the US authorities have recorded and are tracking a high-altitude reconnaissance balloon, which is now over the continental United States. According to Ryder, "the balloon is currently moving at an altitude significantly higher than that at which commercial air transportation is carried out, and does not pose any military or physical threat to people on the ground," writes TASS.