Downed Chinese balloon aimed for Hawaii but was blown off course

US officials believe a Chinese balloon that was shot down after crossing the continental United States originally had a trajectory that would have taken it over Guam and Hawaii but was blown off course by prevailing winds, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.

The balloon, which Washington accuses Beijing of using for surveillance and China says was a civilian research vessel, drifted across Alaska's Aleutian Islands, then Canada and the central United States before it was shot down by the US military off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.