The suspected Chinese spy balloon which was spotted in the US a few months ago and which was then shot down, was able to capture images and collect information pdata from US military sites, according to what a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The balloon was able to transmit the information it was recording back to Beijing in real time, the source added, without the US government yet knowing for sure whether the Chinese government would be able to purge the balloon’s data. This raises questions about whether there is information the balloon was able to gather that the US is not yet aware of.

However, there is no particular concern about the information he was able to collect the balloon, the source said, as Chinese satellites can collect more information than the balloon can.

The US also knew what the balloon’s path would be and was able to move to protect sensitive locations and censor certain signals before the balloon could pick them up, officials said.

The FBI is still examining the balloon, but so far experts have been able to gather information about how the device worked, including the algorithms used, the balloon’s software, and how it is powered and designed.