Analysis from several US defense and intelligence agencies,
found that the balloon carried commercially available U.S. gear,
along with more specialized Chinese sensors and other equipment
to collect photographs, video and other information to transmit
to China, the WSJ said, citing US officials.
The findings support a conclusion that the craft was intended
for spying, and not for weather monitoring as China had claimed,
the report said.
But the balloon did not seem to send data from its eight-day
passage over Alaska, Canada and some other contiguous US states
back to China, WSJ said.
The White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
In February, the U.S. shot down the balloon, which had flown
over sensitive military sites, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
(Reporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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