The U.S. military shot down a second “high altitude object” in American airspace, this time off the coast of Alaska on Friday, the White House announced.
The mission occurred less than a week after a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
White House spokesman John Kirby, hesitated to characterize the aircraft as a balloon, saying “we’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have right now.”
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He also said they didn’t yet know which nation or group was responsible for it.
The object was destroyed by a missile from an F-22 fighter plane “off the very, very northeastern part of Alaska, near the Alaska-Canada border,” said Kirby, speaking at a White House press briefing.
Kirby said the U.S. military first became aware of the object on Thursday night. On Friday morning, President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot it down, which was carried out shortly after noon.
The craft was flying at approximately 40,000 feet in altitude, which is lower than the balloon last week, and it was the size of a small car, he said.
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Unlike the balloon shot down on Saturday, the latest object did not appear to possess any maneuverability, Kirby said.
Last week’s spy balloon was the size of three school buses, according to Pentagon officials. A sophisticated surveillance craft with propellers that gave it maneuverability, the balloon carried a payload the size of a jetliner, Pentagon officials have said.
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