The US military has shot down yet another object, this time over territorial waters off the northeast coast of Alaska near the Canadian border. During a press briefing at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down the object. Austin also gave quite a few details about the object itself while simultaneously being very vague. It is possible that not all details about the object are known to the Department of Defense or the White House as of the writing of this article.
The object, according to DoD, was the size of a small car. This is a far cry from the 200-foot-tall balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. DoD also says that there is no evidence that this object was being “piloted” and it was unmanned. The Pentagon stopped short of saying what type of object this was, refusing to call it an “aircraft” or a “balloon”. It was spotted at an altitude of about 40,000 feet which puts it in the direct path of commercial planes. This fact was apparently enough to shoot the object down. However, other objects (such as drones) have been spotted at this altitude before. The solution is usually that the FAA would clear airspace so planes fly in around the object.
SOURCES:
Biden Orders U.S. to Down High-Altitude Object Over Alaska – The New York Times
US military shoots down ‘object’ flying in territorial waters over Alaska | Fox News
US military shoots down small object over Alaska | Space
U.S. military shoots down unknown object flying off the coast of Alaska | PBS NewsHour
Military shoots down ‘high altitude object’ over Alaska – POLITICO
Unidentified object shot down over Alaska by US military, White House says | US military | The Guardian
Defense Department Briefing | C-SPAN.org
