Washington DC - Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader and most powerful Democrat in Congress, said the two objects shot down by US fighter pilots in the last days were balloons and the Chinese government has been humiliated by the events.

Schumer, speaking on an ABC television Sunday morning news show, said he got his information from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

He said the government believes both objects were balloons, "but much smaller than the... first one." He was referring to a balloon that was identified over the western state of Montana that the US shot down over the coast of South Carolina.

The US lawmaker said one balloon which was over Alaska on Friday and the other over Canada on Saturday were flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet which could endanger air traffic.

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He called the destruction of the balloons "appropriate."

The US government accuses China of using the observation balloon to spy on military installations. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had veered off course.

The US State Department accused China of running an extensive international surveillance program and targeting more than 40 countries on five continents with a fleet of spy balloons.

Beijing rejects the accusations and accused the US government of waging an "information war" over the spying allegations. The dispute is causing additional tension in the already strained relationship between the two countries.