Myrtle Beach authorities warn of debris washing assure after U.S. military shoots down Chinese balloon over Atlantic

MYRTLE BEACH — After days of speculation and tracking as it made its way across the country, South Carolina, and the world at large, watched as a Chinese balloon splashed down off the coast here.

Felled less than 7 miles out over the Atlantic Ocean by a missile from a U.S. F-22 fighter jet, authorities on South Carolina’s coastline warn that debris from the large Chinese balloon could wash ashore.

Naval crews, assisted by the Coast Guard, had already begun collecting the wreckage not long after splashdown. The balloon landed in 47 feet of water, shallower than officials had expected, according to the Associated Press.

It was unclear how long the recovery would take. But police in North Myrtle Beach and Horry County said stray detritus could make it to their beaches. If that happens, people are advised to call local law enforcement.

“Debris should not be touched, moved, or removed,” Horry County police tweeted late Feb. 4. “Such items are part of a federal investigation and tampering could interfere in that investigation.”

Prior to the balloon being shot down, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted travel to and from Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, N.C., airports, clearing the air for the operation.

The balloon, which floated over much of the country earlier this week, prompting accusations of espionage and warnings from officials not to shoot at it from the ground, was spotted over the Carolinas early Feb. 4. By 3 p.m., the deflated white orb had fallen into waters off the South Carolina coast after being shot down by fighter jets. 

Gov. Henry McMaster said he had been briefed by the Pentagon shortly after noon on Feb. 4 about “plans to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon once it was safely off our coast.”

“It appears that has just happened,” he tweeted shortly after the small explosion could be seen off the Palmetto State.

Mike Gorby said he walked outside his Myrtle Beach home to see what was going on after he saw posts about the balloon on Snapchat. He shot a video as jets circled the balloon and captured the “pop” of the balloon being struck by a missile.

“You could see little pieces of metal shrapnel or whatever it is falling in the distance,” Gorby said.

Mike Gorby took this video of the Chinese spy balloon being shot down from outside his Myrtle Beach home on Feb. 4. The pop of the balloon being struck by a missile can be heard at the end of the video.

Courtesy of Mike Gorby

Gorby said he was “a little shocked” as he watched what happened above him. He called the boom “insanely loud” and said it shook his entire house.

“That was wild,” he said. “I’ve never seen crazy stuff like that, especially a balloon getting shot down by fighter jets.”

While leaving the Spring Home Improvement and Outdoor Living Show at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Michael Hodge and his girlfriend Amanda Ruby noticed others gathered outside taking pictures of the balloon.

Hodge said he then heard a loud noise as he noticed jets shooting it down and the debris falling.

“It was loud enough that everybody in the parking lot stopped and looked up,” Hodge said. “It was like a sonic boom.”

Darena Edge of Conway was inside a Marshalls store north in Myrtle Beach when she overheard fellow shoppers on the phone talking to family and friends about the balloon hovering above them.

Then she heard what sounded like a tire blowing, she said. The store emptied as shoppers left the carts in aisles to go outside to see the balloon falling.

“Oh Lord, it was just a little bit unnerving because you just don’t know what was in it,” Edge said. “Some people just quit shopping and said they wanted to go home.”

Earlier in the day, there were reports of sightings throughout upstate South Carolina, including Greenville and Spartanburg, and suburban Charlotte in North Carolina. Authorities across the Carolinas at that time warned people not to take potshots at the floating orb with their rifles.

In York County, not far from the North Carolina border, the county sheriff’s office advised against anyone trying to take out the balloon on their own.

“Don’t try to shoot it!!” the sheriff’s office tweeted Feb. 4 as the balloon passed over the region at an altitude of about 60,000 feet. “Your rifle rounds WILL NOT reach it. Be responsible. What goes up will come down, including your bullets.”

The balloon entered U.S. airspace over Alaska early this week and wasn’t acknowledged by government officials until Feb. 2, a day after commercial flights were temporarily halted at the airport in Billings, Mont., and people on the ground saw the balloon seemingly loitering high above the city.

China said it was a weather research vessel blown off course, a claim rejected by U.S. officials who said the craft had been over areas of Montana where nuclear missiles are siloed.

In Congress, Republicans pounced on the decision not to shoot it down over rural Montana as a sign of weakness on the part of the Biden administration.

After the balloon was shot down, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said it should have been sooner. 

“The balloon should have been shot down before it crossed the continental United States, not after. We still don’t know what information was collected and where it was sent,” Scott said in a statement. “This was a dereliction of Biden’s duty, and let’s hope the American people don’t pay a price.”

Fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted, “Thank you to the men and women of the United States military who were responsible for completing the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon. The Biden Administration did the right thing in bringing it down.”  

President Joe Biden said that he ordered U.S. officials to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier in the week but that national security leaders decided the best time for the operation was when it got over water.

Video shot from Pawleys Island of a Chinese spy balloon being shot down off the S.C. Coast by a missile from F-22 fighter jet on Feb. 4. (Courtesy of Marsh Deane/MLNL Media)

Courtesy of Marsh Deane/MLNL Media

Mike Woodel, Richard Caines and Andy Shain of The Post and Courier contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.