Spy balloon sent data to China in real time - report

The Chinese balloon that flew over the US earlier this year managed to gather intelligence from military bases for days before it was shot down, US media reported on Monday.

The balloon was able to transmit data to Beijing in real time, NBC News reported citing US officials.

The craft picked up electronic signals rather than taking pictures, according to one official quoted by the network.

The White House didn't confirm the report.

But a spokesperson for the White House said that US had managed to limit the balloon's intelligence-gathering abilities.

US officials say they tracked the balloon over Alaska and Canada before it re-entered American airspace in early February.

A public acknowledgement that the balloon was floating over the continental US set off days of tracking, sky watching and speculation. The craft - which was about 200 ft (60 metres) tall - was shot down off of the coast of South Carolina on 4 February by a US fighter jet.

American officials later said they recovered the balloon and that investigators were analysing the debris. Chinese officials say it was a civilian weather balloon and that the US overreacted by shooting it down.

Officials told US media that China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over over military bases, sometimes flying in a figure-eight loop.

The incident triggered a diplomatic row and led US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China.

In the weeks after the balloon was shot down, US fighter jets shot down several other balloons they suspected originated in China. The US department of defence says China operates a fleet of balloons around the world.