This is the dramatic moment the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the coast off South Carolina on Saturday evening, February 4.

The device plunged to earth after an F-22 jet fighter fired a single missile at the high-altitude balloon.

Defence officials confirmed it went down about six nautical miles off the US coast at 14:39 local time (19:39 GMT).

Residents in nearby homes watched the mission, with local Kelly La Pietra shouting "Timber, here it comes, heads up" as the balloon came down.

The fall sparked a scramble to collect the debris. Two naval ships, including one with a heavy crane for recovery, were in the area searching for pieces of the wreckage.

The Chinese government expressed "strong dissatisfaction and protest against the use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft."

They claimed the aircraft entering the US "was completely an accident".

Republican Party advisor Michael B Alfaro, CEO of Capitol Hill & Friends and Consultant to President Trump, said the situation showed the weakness of Joe Biden.

Michael said: "The Ballon was shot down after Governor McMaster called the National Guard and led the efforts to shut down all commercial airports in the immediate area."

"This clearly shows a weakness and raises the question of whether the current president and his administration has the ability to defend America from foreign aggression."

"America must be ready at a given moment to defend our soil from domestic and foreign enemies."

This is the dramatic moment the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon over South Carolina on Saturday evening February 4.

The device was blown to pieces and plunged to earth when a F-22 jet fighter fired a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the high-altitude balloon.

Defences officials confirmed the stealth device went down about six nautical miles off the U.S. coast at 14:39 EST (19:39 GMTt). Residents in nearby homes watched the mission - with local Kelly La Pietra shouting 'Timber, here it comes, heads up' as the balloon came back to earth.

The blast sparked a scramble to collect the debris. Two naval ships, including one with a heavy crane for recovery, were in the area searching for pieces of the wreckage.

Communist officials in rogue regime China expressed 'strong dissatisfaction and protest against the use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft'.

They claimed the aircraft entering the U.S. 'was completely an accident'.

Republican Party advisor Michael B Alfaro, CEO of Capitol Hill & Friends and Consultant to President Trump, said the situation showed the weakness of Joe Biden.

Michael said: 'The Ballon was shot down after Governor McMaster called the National Guard and led the efforts to shut down all commercial airports in the immediate area.

'This clearly shows a weakness and raises the question of whether the current president and his administration has the ability to defend America from foreign aggression.

'America must be ready at a given moment to defend our soil from domestic and foreign enemies.'