A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground, officials said Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The Pentagon would not confirm that the balloon in the photo was the surveillance balloon. (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon is sailing across the U.S. The spectacle was drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying on Friday — while sending excited or alarmed Americans outside with binoculars. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U..S.-China tensions, and the Biden administration weighed a broader response to the discovery of the Chinese balloon over sensitive sites in the western United States. By midday it was over the heartland of central U.S. states, and was expected to be in U.S. airspace for several days.