From January 28 to February 4, 2023, a high-altitude balloon originating from China flew across North American airspace, including Alaska, western Canada, and the contiguous United States. On February 4, the U.S. Air Force shot down the balloon over U.S. territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina near the city of Myrtle Beach. Debris from the wreckage was recovered and sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis. U.S. officials stated that the balloon carried intelligence-gathering equipment but does not appear to have sent information back to China. They believed that while the balloon carried a motor, it could not overcome high altitude winds and the Chinese leadership was not aware of the balloon going off course. When the object was first spotted, the Pentagon characterized it as a surveillance balloon. The Chinese government maintained it was a civilian (mainly meteorological) airship that had been blown off course.