The US shot down fourth flying object in a row in the last 10 days.
International
oi-Prakash KL
Washington,
Feb
13:
The
United
States
on
Sunday
shot
down
yet
another
flying
object
and
this
time
over
Lake
Huron
on
the
US-Canadian
border.
“Today
at
2:42
p.m.
ET,
at
the
direction
of
President
Biden,
and
based
on
the
recommendations
of
Secretary
Austin
and
military
leadership,
an
F-16
fired
an
AIM9x
to
successfully
shoot
down
an
airborne
object
flying
at
approximately
20,000
feet
altitude
in
U.S.
airspace
over
Lake
Huron
in
the
State
of
Michigan,”
a
statement
from
the
US
Department
of
Defense
said.
After
downing
a
Chinese
surveillance
balloon
in
the
Atlantic
Ocean,
off
the
coast
of
South
Carolina
on
February
4,
this
is
the
fourth
such
shooting
down
of
an
unidentified
airborne
object
in
a
week.
The
previous
others
were
shot
down
by
US
fighter
jets
in
Alaska
on
February
10
and
a
“high-altitude
airborne
object”
on
February
11.
Unlike
the
first
balloon,
which
the
US
claims
that
it
was
from
China,
the
origin
of
the
rest
of
the
three
has
not
been
disclosed
yet
by
the
US
and
Canadian
authorities.
US
President
Biden
ordered
the
shooting
down
of
the
airborne
object
on
Sunday
at
the
recommendation
of
Defense
Secretary
Lloyd
Austin.
Days
after
downing
China’s
spy
balloon,
US
shoots
down
object
flying
over
Alaska
“Its
path
and
altitude
raised
concerns,
including
that
it
could
be
a
hazard
to
civil
aviation.
The
location
chosen
for
this
shoot
down
afforded
us
the
opportunity
to
avoid
impact
to
people
on
the
ground
while
improving
chances
for
debris
recovery.
There
are
no
indications
of
any
civilians
hurt
or
otherwise
affected.
North
American
Aerospace
Defense
Command
detected
the
object
Sunday
morning
and
has
maintained
visual
and
radar
tracking
of
it.
Based
on
its
flight
path
and
data
we
can
reasonably
connect
this
object
to
the
radar
signal
picked
up
over
Montana,
which
flew
in
proximity
to
sensitive
DOD
sites.
We
did
not
assess
it
to
be
a
kinetic
military
threat
to
anything
on
the
ground,
but
assess
it
was
a
safety
flight
hazard
and
a
threat
due
to
its
potential
surveillance
capabilities.
Our
team
will
now
work
to
recover
the
object
in
an
effort
to
learn
more,”
the
Pentagon
added.
US
Calling
Them
Objects
for
a
Reason
At
a
press
conference,
Air
Force
General
Glen
VanHerck,
who
safeguards
US
airspace
as
head
of
North
American
Aerospace
Defense
Command
(NORAD)
and
Northern
Command,
said,
“We’re
calling
them
objects,
not
balloons,
for
a
reason.”
He
said
that
Pentagon
does
not
know
what
keeps
these
“objects”
aloft,
unknown
propulsion
systems.
Story first published: Monday, February 13, 2023, 9:35 [IST]
