The Pentagon has released a photograph of a U2 spy plane soaring over the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it transited the mainland United States earlier this month, providing a new glimpse of the information US officials gathered about the craft before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean.
The image appears to have been taken from the cockpit of the single-seat U2 Dragon Lady, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft in service since the 1950s.
It can cruise at altitudes above 70,000 feet, allowing it look down on the Chinese airship that officials said had reached heights of 60,000 to 65,000 feet.
The photograph shows an Air Force pilot clad in a helmet as the balloon passes below. Large solar panels attached to the airship appear to be visible, with equipment strung from a canopy that US military officials have described as 200 feet tall.
The Air Force said the photograph was captured on February 3 over the “Central Continental United States”.
A day later, it moved off the coast of South Carolina and was shot down by a Sidewinder missile launched from an F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
The image was published on Tuesday on the website Dragon Lady Today, a site devoted to the U2 and its history.
Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singh confirmed the image was authentic during a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday afternoon, and the Defence Department released the image about an hour later.
The single-engine U2 was initially adopted during the Cold War. (SMH)