The United States on Saturday CLAIMS it shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the North Carolina coast, ending a national security fiasco that had lasted several days. 

One expert says video SEEMS to show China "Self-destructed" the equipment array before the US did anything.  He also says it is likely that all data, images, and video from the balloon's trip was uploaded via satellite by China long before the balloon was downed.

The U.S. military says it destroyed the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coastline. Why they didn't do that when it was over US airspace at the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, BEFORE it traversed the continental United States, has not been disclosed.