Colombia has confirmed a sighting of an airborne object similar to a balloon flying over its territory, a day after a US military jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the country's Atlantic Coast.

Key points:

• Colombia's air force says the object exhibited "characteristics similar to those of a balloon," and was monitored until if left the country's airspace
• Republicans have accused Joe Biden of "dereliction of duty" for waiting to alert the public about the balloon's flight over America
• Some officials say the balloon was launched intentionally to disrupt a since-cancelled China visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken

Colombia's air force issued a statement providing limited details concerning a possible balloon its air defence system had located Friday morning.

US military officials on Friday said another Chinese balloon was spotted somewhere over Latin America but did not specify its location.

According to the Colombian air force statement, an "object" was detected over its territory at an altitude of 16,764 metres that had entered the South American country's airspace to the north moving at an average speed of 25 knots, or roughly 46.3 kilometres per hour.

The statement added that the object exhibited "characteristics similar to those of a balloon," and that the air force monitored it until if left the country's airspace.

"It was determined that it did not represent a threat to national security," the statement added.

No other official confirmation of unidentified balloons flying over other Latin American countries has been issued as of Sunday.

In recent days, however, balloon sightings have been made in Venezuela and Costa Rica by multiple social media users.

Republicans criticise Biden's response

Republicans have lashed into Joe Biden over his handling of the Chinese balloon incident, which has strained already taut US-Chinese relations.

Marco Rubio, vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee, criticised the US President for waiting so long to alert the public as the alleged spy balloon made its "unprecedented" flight over America, saying this amounted to "dereliction of duty."

He described the overflight as a brazen effort by Beijing timed to embarrass Mr Biden just before his State of the Union message on Tuesday, and to disrupt a since-cancelled China visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Mr Rubio, appearing on CNN, said Beijing's message was: "We have the ability to do this, and America can't do anything about it".

And Representative Mike Turner, who chairs the House intelligence committee, used a football comparison in blasting Mr Biden for waiting to down the balloon.

"Clearly the president taking it down over the Atlantic is … sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over," he said.

The satellite had completed its mission. It should never have been allowed to enter the United States.