If you happen to lookup “Selfie Taken from the Highest Altitude” within the Guinness Ebook of World Data, it could be from the U.S. Air Drive pilot who snapped {a photograph} of China’s suspected surveillance balloon from the cockpit of a U-2 spy aircraft.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon launched {a photograph} dated Feb. 3, 2023, that reveals a shadow of the aircraft passing over the balloon. The distinctive payload is seen because it crosses over the continental United States. The Protection Division stated the balloon was flying at about 60,000 toes.
The unidentified U-2 pilot’s helmet, just like these utilized by NASA astronauts, is seen within the {photograph}.
Although the Pentagon says it had been monitoring the craft earlier, the balloon was first noticed by civilians over Billings, Montana on January 28, briefly shutting the native airport.
The balloon grew to become a public sensation and a diplomat soccer because it slowly traversed the continental U.S. over the following few days. Citing the potential hazard from falling particles, the Protection Division held off capturing down the balloon till it headed out over the Atlantic Ocean close to South Carolina on Feb. 6 — three days after its portrait was captured by the U-2.
The balloon was about 200 toes tall and carried a payload of intelligence-gathering surveillance gear that weighed hundreds of kilos, U.S. officers stated.
Chinese language officers contend it was a civilian climate craft that was blown unintentionally astray, calling the U.S. resolution to shoot it down a “hysterical overreaction.” A deliberate fence-mending journey by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing was rapidly scrubbed within the furor over the incident.
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed “Dragon Girl,” is a single-seat, single-engine high-altitude reconnaissance plane that first flew within the Fifties throughout the peak of the Chilly Battle.
In 1960, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down by a surface-to-air missile and captured whereas flying a secret reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union.