US President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified “high-altitude object” off Alaska on Friday, the White House says
Spokesman John Kirby said the unmanned object was “the size of a small car” and posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation
The object’s purpose and origin was unclear, Mr Kirby said
It comes a week after the American military destroyed a Chinese balloon over US territorial waters
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Kirby said the debris field of the object shot down on Friday was “much, much smaller” than the balloon shot down last Saturday off the coast of South Carolina
He said that the object was flying at 40,000ft (12,000m) over the northern coast of Alaska
It had already flown across Alaska at a speed of 20 to 40mph (64km/h) and was out over the sea travelling towards the North Pole, when it was shot down
Commercial airlines can fly as high as 45,000ft
Helicopters and transport aircraft have been deployed to collect debris from the frozen waters of the Beaufort Sea
“We do not know who owns it, whether it’s state owned or corporate owned or privately owned,” Mr Kirby said
The object was first spotted on Thursday night, though officials did not specify a time
He said two fighter jets had approached the object and assessed there was nobody on board, and this information was available to Mr Biden when he made his decision
“We’re going to remain vigilant about our airspace,” Mr Kirby asserted. “The president takes his obligations to protect our national security interests as paramount
According to ABC News, the object seemed to have no propulsion
It seemed to be floating, “cylindrical and silver-ish grey”, reports the network’s chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, citing an unnamed US official
Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the object was “not similar in size or shape” to last week’s Chinese balloon
He confirmed that an F-22 jet had shot down the object with a sidewinder missile at 13:45 EST (18:45 GMT) on Friday
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