New images released by the US Navy show the debris from a destroyed Chinese spy balloon being pulled from the water in the Atlantic Ocean.

The images are the first close-up look at the object that Pentagon officials described as a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” that was discovered traveling over sensitive US military sites last week.

The balloon was shot down over the ocean on Sunday off the coast of South Carolina after being tracked across the US for days by the military.

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The new photographs are dated 5 February, the day after the balloon was downed by an F-22 Raptor jet.

The mission to collect the debris started at around 10am local time on Monday after rough waters meant it was deemed unsafe to begin on Sunday, the Department of Defense said in a statement.

Read more: yahoo