The Pentagon discloses that a balloon found off Alaska’s coast had been adrift in the ocean for more than a year.

The Department of Defense confirmed that balloon debris that was recovered off of the coast of Alaska last month appeared to have been in the ocean for “well over a year.”

Sue Gough, a Department of Defense spokesperson, confirmed to Fox News Digital that an initial inspection of the balloon “indicated” that it had been “in the ocean for well over a year.”

“Some material has been transferred to U.S. government facilities for further examination and analysis,” Gough said.

“We also took steps to mitigate the potential efforts of that balloon,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in June. 

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023.  (Randall Hill/Reuters)

Intelligence agencies have concluded that the spy balloon was used for spying, not weather-related issues as China had claimed. 

Information captured by the spy balloon is not believed to have been successfully sent back to Beijing. It is unclear why the spy mission seemed to fail, but officials said intelligence agencies used countermeasures to prevent data collection. 

The Chinese spy balloon flew from Alaska to the East Coast, where it was shot down by the military over the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 4. 

Fox News’ Brie Stimpson contributed to this report.