Downed Chinese balloon was 200 feet tall, U.S. military says

The suspected Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. shot down over the weekend was 200 feet tall, officials said Monday — or roughly four times the size of the Snoopy balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command, told reporters in a briefing that the balloon that slowly made its way across the U.S. last week before being brought down on Saturday was also carrying a payload that was similar in size to a regional jetliner.

The payload “probably weighs in excess of a...