Pilot Flying Over Chinese Spy Balloon Posed for Picture Now Released by Department of Defense

Department of Defense

By Inside Edition Staff

First Published: 7:13 AM PST, February 24, 2023

China has maintained that the balloon was a weather ship blown off course.

This could be one of the most out-of-this-world’s selfie’s ever taken.

The Department of Defense released an image of a pilot inside a U2 spy plane hovering over the Chinese spy balloon before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month, according to BBC News.

The spy balloon was first seen at the end of January hovering over Montana before it was shot down. The wreckage was retrieved and is being analyzed.

A senior State Department official said earlier this month that the U2 flyovers “revealed that the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations,” according to CNN.

The image of the selfie was first reported by CNN but on Thursday, the Department of Defense released the image of the pilot above the floating silver balloon.

The photo has reportedly "gained legendary status" inside the Pentagon, according to BBC News.

The balloon was said to be hovering at 60,000 feet in the air, while U2 planes routinely fly at altitudes over 70,000 feet, according to the Air Force.

China has maintained that the balloon was a weather ship blown off course.