The more recent information indicates the "payload" suspended from the balloon was as big as 3 school buses, so the concern for shooting down the balloon over populated areas was probably justified. If we were collecting intelligence on what the balloon was surveilling, that is always preferable to not knowing...especially since our sensitive facilities would have been put on notice to button up. Now we have an opportunity to collect the hardware and analyze it. It is likely that Navy ships are in the vicinity and air patrols are occurring. Not every Navy ship is equipped to salvage sunken objects, especially if they are large, thus the wait for salvage equipment.
The more recent information indicates the "payload" suspended from the balloon was as big as 3 school buses, so the concern for shooting down the balloon over populated areas was probably justified. If we were collecting intelligence on what the balloon was surveilling, that is always preferable to not knowing...especially since our sensitive facilities would have been put on notice to button up. Now we have an opportunity to collect the hardware and analyze it. It is likely that Navy ships are in the vicinity and air patrols are occurring. Not every Navy ship is equipped to salvage sunken objects, especially if they are large, thus the wait for salvage equipment.
It looks like USNS Pathfinder, USNS #50 and some kind of tug are in the area.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-78.522/centery:33.534/zoom:12