After the F-22 fighter jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon, U.S. Navy divers completed an operation to recover pieces of it off the coast of South Carolina. Sending the debris to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s laboratory in Quantico, Va., for further analysis could reveal more about what the balloon had been able to capture. President Biden addressed the incident, marking it as a “violation of our sovereignty” and affirming the results of the analysis will strengthen the capability. While he did not intend to start a Cold War, the discovery of the balloon has set off a wave of speculation about the Chinese surveillance program, both in the Trump and Biden administrations.

Reports show that a few intelligence officers under Trump were aware of several Chinese balloons crossing into U.S. airspace, but the analysis of the salvaged material marks the first time the incident got noticed. It also led