A US fighter jet shot down an object the size of a small car over Alaska, the White House said Friday.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the object is flying at an altitude of about 12,000 feet and poses a “reasonable threat” to civilian flight safety.
According to Kirby, it is unclear where the object came from when it fell onto the frozen water. “We don’t know who owns this facility,” he said.
He said the object crashed far northeast Alaska near the Canadian border and the pilots determined the object was unmanned.
He added that many details about the object are unknown, including whether it was carrying surveillance equipment, but it is expected to be located after it lands in US territorial waters.
The object was discovered on Thursday evening (local time) and shot down on the orders of US President Joe Biden, White House officials said.
He said that, unlike the Chinese balloon, the object appeared to be motionless and at the mercy of the wind.
Officials said, “Out of prudence and on the advice of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to shoot down a ground facility.”
This comes after the US shot down a suspected Chinese “spy balloon” over its territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina last Saturday (February 4).
Kirby added that the object’s debris field was “much smaller” than the balloon launched last week.
The object fell into the icy water and officials expected the wreckage to be recovered faster than last week.
Last Saturday, a giant white orb the size of three buses was spotted over the Carolinas on Saturday morning as it approached the Atlantic coast before being hit by a missile launched from an F-22 fighter at around 2:39 p.m. time.
Three airports were closed and airspace off the coast of North and South Carolina was closed to bring down the balloon. The balloon hit the water near South Carolina and the debris field stretched for at least 7 miles and was 14 feet deep, according to US government officials.
Navy divers then combed the ocean to find the wreck so the equipment could be analyzed.
The discovery of the balloon caused a diplomatic row between the two countries, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken immediately canceled a planned trip to China.
The United States claims that the device flew over secret military installations.
General Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he believes the balloons may have been launched by the Chinese military on purpose to disrupt Blinken’s trip to China.
“It was not an accident. It was on purpose. It was intelligence,” he added.
On the other hand, China, prior to the launch of the balloon, claimed that it was used for scientific and meteorological purposes.
Tang Kefei, a spokesman for the country’s army, called the shooting “a clear overreaction.”
“The US used force to attack our unmanned civilian airship, which is a clear overreaction,” Kefey said last week.
Source: I News
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