A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object, the size of 'a small car', over Alaska on Friday, the White House confirmed. This comes nearly a week after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, further straining diplomatic relations with Beijing.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden ordered the military to down the object, floating at 40,000 feet, as it was a threat to civil aviation. The purpose or origin of the object is not yet clear. The Pentagon said it was first detected on Thursday using ground radars. F-35 aircraft were then sent to investigate.
The object was shot down off the coast of northeastern Alaska over frozen US territorial waters, Reuters reported. It is easier to recover the debris from the frozen body of water unless that of the Chinese balloon that fell into the ocean.
Though the White House has not revealed any further details about the unidentified flying object, officials clarified it was much smaller than the Chinese balloon. American pilots flew alongside the object to first ensure no human was aboard before it was shot down. Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson, said the object 'did not resemble an air plane' and was taken down by an F-22 Raptor that used an AIM-9X missile.
Kirby said the object did not appear to have the manoeuvrable capability of the Chinese balloon.
Chinese balloon debris
Since the shootdown of the spy balloon earlier this week, US Navy officials have been searching the Atlantic ocean for debris. Ryder told reporters "a significant" amount of the balloon had already been recovered or located. "Debris that's been recovered so far is being loaded on the vessels, taken ashore, catalogued and then moved onwards to labs for subsequent analysis," he added.
China has acknowledged that the balloon was theirs but denied that it was for surveillance purposes rather than for weather monitoring and that it had drifted off course. Beijing has alleged that the US has violated international law by shooting down its balloon.
Biden had faced criticism over delayed response to the Chinese balloon over US territory.
