Days after blowing up a Chinese spy balloon, the US today said it shot down an aerial object found flying over Alaska.
President Biden ordered the object to be shot down using fighter jets on a recommendation from the Pentagon, said John Kirby, the White House’s coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council.
“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” he said in a press briefing on Friday.
However, Kirby said it’s unclear whether the object is even a balloon. “It was much, much smaller than the spy balloon that we took down last Saturday,” he said. “The way it was described to me was roughly the size of a small car, as opposed to a payload that was two or three buses size. So much, much smaller. And no significant payload if you will.”
It also remains unclear whether the object came from China. “We do not know who owns it. Whether it’s state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned, we just don’t know,” he said.
That said, the US expects to recover the downed object, which was shot down over US frozen territorial waters. He also said Biden acted quickly to destroy the object since it was flying at 40,000 feet, or about the same altitude of commercial planes. In contrast, the Chinese spy balloon was traveling far higher at 60,000 feet.
Still, Biden may have also acted to quickly destroy the object when Pentagon officials are confident the original Chinese spy balloon found floating over the country could surveil sensitive US military sites. Kirby added the same balloon had the capacity to maneuver and “loiter” over an area for an extended time. In addition, US officials believe the balloon was capable of collecting electronic communications through antennas onboard.
In a Friday briefing, the Defense Department also said it couldn’t offer more details about the mysterious object over Alaska. But a spokesman confirmed the object, which was first spotted a day ago, was shot down at 1:45 pm EST with the use of F-22 fighter jets.
A second Chinese balloon was also found traveling over Latin America. However, China has said the balloons are "civilian airships" meant for research and test purposes.
"The unintended, unexpected entry of the unmanned Chinese civilian airship into US airspace is entirely caused by force majeure," the country's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. "The Chinese side has made that clear in its communication with the US side time and again, yet the US overreacted by using force."