US intelligence officials believe the recently spotted Chinese spy balloon is part of a large-scale surveillance program run by the Chinese military, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

Officials told CNN that the monitoring program, which includes a number of similar balloons, was carried out partly from within the small Chinese province of Hainan. five continents at least in recent years.

According to an official familiar with the intelligence, approximately 6 of the flights were within US airspace, though not necessarily over US territory, as he put it.

The official and another source familiar with the information said that all of the blimps seen around the world are not exactly the same model that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, and that there are multiple "differences".

CNN asked the Chinese Embassy in Washington to comment on the suggestion that the downed balloon is part of a broader surveillance program.

According to the report, officials want to understand as much as possible about the balloon's technical capabilities, including what kind of data it could intercept and collect, which satellites it was attached to and whether there were any vulnerabilities the US might be able to exploit.

And perhaps crucially, investigators will be looking at the digital signatures they emit to see if they provide a better way for the United States to track this type of balloon in the future. The commander of US Northern Command, Gen. Glenn Vanherk, admitted to reporters Monday that the US had a "field awareness gap" that had allowed previous balloons to pass into US airspace undetected.

China maintains that the balloon shot down by the United States was a derailed weather balloon, but offered a rare expression of "regret" for the matter in a statement on Friday.
Source: The Seventh Day website