US Releases Selfie Image Showing Pilot Flying Over Chinese Balloon

The US Department of Defence has released a selfie photograph clicked by the pilot of a U2 plane that flew over the Chinese balloon shot down earlier this month. The photo was clicked as the spy plane tracked the balloon's progress over the US, according to the BBC. The photos give the closest look yet at the device, believed to be 200 feet tall. The balloon was shot down by the US military on the orders of US President Joe Biden.

The photographs were taken on February 3, a day before the balloon was shot down off Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh confirmed the authenticity of the image at a press conference on Wednesday.

The photo has reportedly "gained legendary status" inside the Pentagon, said the BBC.

The U2 planes routinely fly at an altitude of 70,000 feet, the outlet said quoting the US Air Force. The single-seater aircraft has been nicknamed the Dragon Lady and were previously flown by the CIA.

NBC News said the US Defence Department did not identify the pilot in the selfie.

Relations between Beijing and Washington soured further since Mr Biden ordered the military to take down the balloon, which the United States claims was surveilling American territory.

Chinese officials have vociferously denied the accusation, insisting the device was a wayward weather observation aircraft with no military purpose.

The US said on Friday it had successfully concluded recovery efforts off South Carolina to collect sensors and other debris from the balloon and investigators are now analysing its "guts."

The last of the debris from the Chinese balloon was taken to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis.

The Chinese balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before being shot down.