The US has been monitoring the Chinese spy balloon that has hovered over Montana in recent days

A massive Chinese surveillance balloon has been hovering over the northern United States for the past few days, senior defense officials confirmed Thursday — briefing Joe Biden on Wednesday about his options, including shooting it out of the sky.

Biden suggested that the balloon should be shot down at a high altitude after it was spotted and reported by civilians on a commercial airliner, US officials said. The Wall Street Journal.

The Pentagon opposed the move, fearing civilian casualties if the giant balloon — the size of three canisters — explodes in midair.

“The United States government has detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon and is now tracking it over the mainland United States,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. General Pat Ryder told NBC News.

“We will continue to monitor it and monitor it closely.”

F-22 Raptors were sent from Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, but they are not thought to have used the balloon — their activity, however, led to a ground stop at the airfield in Billings, with air traffic controllers calling a “special military service.” . mission.’

Sources told NBC news that there were concerns about the possible debris from the balloon blasting out of the sky. ABC news reported it was the size of three buses, and had what they called “a technology bay.”

It flew over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday, NBC reported. Montana is home to fields of underground Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

It’s not the first time spy balloons have been spotted over the United States, but this one has stayed longer than usual.

The balloon’s current flight path takes it over “a number of sensitive locations,” a source said CNN — but the official said it poses no significant risk to intelligence gathering.

The Pentagon said that as soon as it was discovered, they acted to prevent sensitive information from being stolen.

“Once the balloon was discovered, the U.S. government took immediate action to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” they said — without specifying what actions they took.

The high-altitude balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday after flying over the Aleutian Islands, across Canada and into Montana.

The Pentagon said the balloon is still hovering over the US, but would not say where.

To show how seriously the raid was taken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday convened his military leaders for an emergency meeting to discuss the balloon. He was traveling in the Philippines at the time.

In attendance were Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Van Herck, commander of NORTHCOM/NORAD, and other combatant commanders, NBC reported.

They discussed shooting it out of the sky, but decided it was too risky to recommend.

They decided not to “take any kinetic action because of the risk to the safety and security of people on the ground from the potential debris field.”

Pentagon leaders presented the options to Biden on Wednesday, NBC said.

“Currently, we assess that this balloon has limited added value from an intelligence gathering point of view over and above what the PRC can do through other means,” the senior defense official said.

“Nevertheless, we are taking all necessary measures to protect against the collection of sensitive information by foreign intelligence agencies.”

The official said the balloon poses no threat to civil aviation due to its height.

The US is confident the balloon was launched by China, the source told NBC News, and has raised the issue with Beijing.

The complaint was directed to the Chinese government “through multiple channels, both here in DC and in Beijing.”

It is unclear whether China admitted that the balloon belonged to them.

The bold move comes days before Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the Chinese capital for high-level talks.