According to official statements, a US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unknown object that was flying over Alaska on Friday. The object was hit by a Sidewinder missile and ultimately crashed into frozen territorial waters, as confirmed by Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Chief Spokesperson for the Pentagon.
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This event occurred shortly after the military took down a Chinese surveillance balloon near the Carolina coast. At present, it has not been officially confirmed whether the object shot down in Alaska was another balloon or not. The ownership and origin of the object are also yet to be determined.
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US Shoots Down Unidentified Object Flying Above Alaska
The “high-altitude object” has been described as being the size of a small car. John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator’s spokesperson, stated that they currently do not know who the object belongs to and referred to it as an “object” due to the lack of better information. Flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, it was considered to be a threat to civilian flights.
Brig Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary, reported that the U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to the U.S. Northern Command took down the high-altitude object in U.S. sovereign airspace over U.S. territorial waters at 1:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, following the direction of the President of the United States.
The object was shot down over frozen waters off the coast of Alaska, making it easier to collect the debris. However, upon impact with the frozen surface, the object shattered, making it challenging to determine its exact nature, whether it was a drone, balloon, or something else.
A Chinese Balloon was Shot Down Last Week
Last Saturday, a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the Carolina coast was brought down in an operation authorized by President Biden. The balloon had been hovering over the country for eight days before being taken down.
In a statement, President Biden explained that he had ordered the Pentagon to shoot down the balloon as soon as possible. The best time to do so was determined to be when it was over the water outside of a 12-mile limit, and the operation was successfully carried out. He expressed his admiration for the aviators who carried out the mission and promised to provide more information on the matter.
The President was initially criticized for the delay in his response, but he justified it by explaining that shooting down the balloon earlier would have posed a threat to the ground population. In contrast, the UFO was shot down sooner as it was floating over the ocean, and it was also much smaller in size compared to the balloon.
Another Unidentified High-Altitude Object Spotted Over Canada
Following the downing of the UFO in Alaska, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reported that another unknown object was spotted in Canadian airspace. This object was subsequently shot down by a US F-22 fighter jet in the Yukon territory.
“I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Trudeau tweeted on February 11.
“I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object. Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America,” he wrote further.