Why the US hasn’t shot down the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, according to officials

As the US and its Canadian partners continue to monitor a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon floating above the northern United States, one question stands out among the rest: Why hasn’t it been shot down?

Officials have said that the balloon’s path carries it over a “number of sensitive sites” in the US. The balloon – which is the size of three buses – has been seen over Montana, which is home to underground US military intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

But ultimately, officials determined that the potential damage of falling debris outweighed the risk of...