The Pentagon said the Chinese airship did not collect any intelligence while flying over the US mainland.
“We believe he did not collect information while transiting or flying over the United States,” said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder, according to AFP.
He added that the US had “taken measures to limit” the balloon’s access to information, which “certainly helped”.
However, Ryder did not provide further details about these procedures, according to the French Agency.
The American Wall Street Journal reported, on Wednesday, citing preliminary investigation results, that the Chinese balloon used American technology that helped it collect audio and visual information.
The newspaper said, quoting US officials, that an analysis conducted by several US defense and intelligence agencies concluded that there were US devices available on the market, as well as specialized Chinese sensors and other equipment to take pictures and video clips and collect other information and transmit them to China.
The report added that the findings support the view that the balloon was intended for espionage, not weather monitoring, as China claimed, according to Reuters.
But the Wall Street Journal said the balloon did not appear to have sent China any data from its eight-day voyage, in which it passed over Alaska, Canada and some other US border states.
The balloon had crossed the United States from west to east, from Alaska to South Carolina, from the end of January to the beginning of February, flying over strategic military installations.
The balloon was shot down on February 4 over the Atlantic Ocean, and the US military collected its wreckage and has since examined it.
The incident led to a crisis in relations between Beijing and Washington, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a long-scheduled visit to China.
While Washington confirmed that it was a spy balloon, Beijing denied this, saying that it was a meteorological balloon that had inadvertently drifted into US airspace.
And in June, US President Joe Biden said he believed “Chinese leaders were unaware” of the balloon’s location or what was in it.
“I think it was more embarrassing for them than intentional,” he added.
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