(Chad Fish via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. Military officials determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Brig. In preparation for the operation Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace over the Carolina coast, including the airports in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. Bill Swanson said he watched the balloon deflate instantly from his house in Myrtle Beach as fighter jets circled around.
