The Pentagon said that it shot down an unidentified object over Alaska on Friday after it flew at an altitude that would pose a risk to civilian aircraft.
“At the direction of the President of the United States, fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully took down a high altitude airborne object off the northern coast of Alaska at 1:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today within U.S. sovereign airspace over U.S. territorial water,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a Pentagon press briefing.
He added: “We have no further details about the object at this time, including any description of its capabilities, purpose, or origin. The object was about the size of a small car so not similar in size or shape to the high altitude surveillance balloon that was taken down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.”
The alleged incursion comes on the heels of a Chinese spy balloon entering U.S. airspace on January 28 and finally being shot down after traversing the continental U.S. and exiting over South Carolina on February 4.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Military commander tells Senate panel on Chinese spy balloon: 'We think before we shoot'The U.S. military decided not to shoot down Chinese spy balloon over Alaska because the recovery of the downed balloon would have been much riskier, defense officials told a Senate panel on Thursday.
Read more »
Military commander tells senators on spy balloon: 'We think before we shoot''A key piece of this is the recovery. For us to be able to exploit and understand this balloon...if we had taken it down over the state of Alaska...it would have been a very different recovery operation,' assistant Defense Secretary Melissa Dalton said.
Read more »
Pentagon: President Biden orders to shoot down ‘object’ flying over AlaskaIt was the second object shot down by U.S. military officials in the last week. This object was flying at a lower altitude.
Read more »
Pentagon shoots down ‘object’ flying off Alaska coastline, White House saysBREAKING: The United States military on Friday shot down an “object” flying at 40,000 feet in U.S. territorial waters over Alaska at the direction of President Joe Biden, the White House said.
Read more »
Pentagon shoots down unknown object flying in U.S. airspace off Alaska coastlineThe object was flying at about 40,000 feet and posed a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights, said the White House National Security Council spokesman.
Read more »