US Army fighters shot down on sunday a flying object that flew over the lake ferretin the border between the United States and Canada, the Pentagon has reported, after two US legislators leaked the news. The device is the fourth device destroyed in the North American sky in just over a week.
The high command of the US Army justified the demolition because the device was close to “sensitive” military installations and had “potential surveillance capabilities.”
“Object has been shot down by United States Air Force and National Guard pilots,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, which borders the lake on the north and east, tweeted. Another Michigan lawmaker, Rep. Jack Bergman, said the US military had “deactivated” an object over the lake.
The US military has been on high alert for air threats after various incidents involving Chinese hot air balloons and flying devices, and has closed airspace on at least two occasions. The object shot down this Sunday was seen the day before flying over Montana, according to US government sources to the Reuters agency.
The object has been downed by pilots from the US Air Force and National Guard. Great work by all who carried out this mission both in the air and back at headquarters. We’re all interested in exactly what this object was and it’s purpose. 1/ https://t.co/LsjwtjntCv
— Rep. Elissa Slotkin (@RepSlotkin) February 12, 2023
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the military had shot down the object, but declined to say whether it resembled the large white Chinese balloon that was shot down earlier this month. Meanwhile, Canadian investigators are searching for the remains of an unidentified flying object that was shot down by a US aircraft over the Yukon Territory on Saturday.
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“Recovery teams are on the ground, seeking to find and analyze the object,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Sunday. “The safety of citizens is our top priority and that is why I made the decision to shoot down that unidentified object,” he said, adding that it had posed a danger to civilian aircraft.
The 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) balloon, which the Americans accused Beijing of using to spy on the United States, sparked an international incident, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip. to China just a few hours. before he was ready to go.
For now, no details are known about this object, although a legislature source told The Wall Street Journal that it was shaped like an octagon and that it was flying at an altitude of 20,000 feet (about 6,000 meters), so it represented a danger to the commercial aviation.
There is also not much information about the last two that were shot down, while work is being done to recover their remains, but Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that both are believed to be balloons, although smaller than the alleged spy balloon. Chinese intercepted last week.
The senator, who was informed about these objects by the White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, stated that the devices were flying at 12,000 meters of altitude, posing a “danger” for commercial aviation.
Schumer stressed that until a few months ago the United States did not know anything about these balloons, and assured that the Army and US intelligence are focused on collecting all the necessary information.
The detection and downing of these flying objects occurs in the midst of the diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing after last week the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over a large part of its territory. The Government of Joe Biden has accused China of having developed, with the involvement of the Armed Forces, a balloon “program” for espionage work and that they have already flown over more than 40 countries on 5 continents.
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China defends that the balloon that the United States shot down was a meteorological device that “deviated from its original course” due to “force majeure.” According to government sources cited by various media, as a result of the Chinese balloon, the United States has raised controls in its airspace and this may explain the repeated detections of aircraft flying over the country.
The US authorities, according to these sources, have contacted investigative agencies in various fields to determine if these objects are linked to their work.