Several mysterious flying objects over North America keep the local air force in suspense. What the jets shot down is still unclear. Is there a connection to the recently discovered Chinese balloon? China is now reporting a mysterious sighting of its own.
The United States shot down another unidentified flying object near the border with Canada on Sunday. US President Joe Biden ordered the shooting down over Lake Huron as a precautionary measure, a government official said. The object was not classified as a military threat, but as a threat to civilian aircraft. It was already the third suspected object that was taken from the sky by US fighter jets within a few days.
The object shot down over Lake Huron, described by the government official as an octagonal structure with strings hanging from it, was flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters above the state of Michigan in the northeastern United States and was therefore classified as a hazard to civilian air traffic.
The US military had previously observed the object for almost a day, the Pentagon said. It was then launched over Lake Huron “to avoid impacting people on the ground while increasing the chances of debris recovery”.
Three flying objects in three days
On Friday, the US military shot down an unidentified flying object over the state of Alaska. Another object was destroyed in a joint operation by Canadian and US warplanes over Canada’s Yukon Territory on Saturday.
US Northern Command commander Glen VanHerck said the objects were “very, very small”. He would not describe the shape or size of the objects, but said they were moving very slowly, about the speed of the wind.
It was completely open to whom it belonged and for what purpose it was on its way. It was also unclear whether there was a connection to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that the American military took down over US territory a few days ago. According to state media, an unknown flying object was also sighted over China on Sunday.
Similarities with the incident off the coast of Alaska
According to Deputy Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton, the objects shot down since Friday were discovered because radar settings were changed to look for smaller and slower objects after the launch of a suspected Chinese spy balloon almost ten days ago.
Since the balloon was launched, US airspace at the altitude in question has been checked more closely, Dalton said. That could “at least partially explain the increase in objects that we have discovered in the past week”. Dalton pointed out that flying objects at such altitudes are also operated by research institutes and private companies.
Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand said the object was shot down over her territory at an altitude of around twelve kilometers. The object off the coast of Alaska was also traveling at this altitude – both are said to have been unmanned. The minister also called the object small and spoke of a “cylindrical shape”. According to US media, it also has this in common with the previously shot down object, which is said to have been the size of a small car.
Both objects differ significantly in flight altitude and size from the Chinese balloon. According to the US government, it was 18 kilometers high and the size of two to three buses.
Salvage is still ongoing
The operations to recover the balloon and the three other downed objects continued, according to Dalton on Sunday. The salvage of the missile shot down off Alaska proved particularly difficult. It is made more difficult by the “arctic weather conditions”, said the command staff Northern Command (Northcom). These included freezing winds, snow and limited daylight. The salvage of the debris takes place on the sea ice. Northcom stressed that there was still no further information about the object, its purpose or its origin.
The recovery of the debris from the suspected spy balloon off the coast of the state of South Carolina is still ongoing. The United States hopes that the investigation of the debris will provide further insights into the Chinese approach.
Since the balloon was launched, US airspace at the altitude in question has been checked more closely, Dalton said. That could “at least partially explain the increase in objects that we have discovered in the past week”. Dalton pointed out that flying objects at such altitudes are also operated by research institutes and private companies.
Connection to Chinese balloon open
The incident was reminiscent of the Chinese balloon suspected of being used for espionage, which the US Air Force shot down off the coast of the state of South Carolina a week earlier. Schumer emphasized that the United States had collected an enormous amount of intelligence information during the overflight. Its debris is also recovered and examined. The United States accuses China’s government of using the balloon to spy on military installations. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course and described the launch as an “overreaction”.
The incident caused further tension in the already strained relationship between the two countries – also because the USA accuses China of operating a large international surveillance program with balloons of this type, with which they have targeted more than 40 countries on five continents. “The Chinese have been humiliated,” Schumer said. “The Chinese have been caught lying. And I think that’s a real step backwards for them.” He assumes that they will have to stop the program or do something else after they are blown. “Because they look really bad.”
Washington Post report
Debris salvage in progress – spy balloon apparently part of a large Chinese surveillance program
Sighting over China
On Sunday, reports of a mysterious sighting also came from China. The state-affiliated daily Global Times reported that China is preparing to shoot down an unknown flying object. Citing a local shipping authority, it said the mysterious object was spotted off the waters of the prefecture-level city of Rizhao in Shandong province on Sunday. At first there was no further information as to what kind of object it was.
The US military has been dealing with mysterious flying objects for a long time
Unidentified flying objects are not uncommon in themselves. In 2020, the US Department of Defense set up a working group to analyze “unexplained phenomena in the air that could potentially pose a threat to US national security”. Since then, the group has published reports on this at irregular intervals – most recently a few weeks ago. It emerged that the US military has no explanation for many observations of unidentified flying objects. Reports of inexplicable phenomena in the sky have increased. However, the Pentagon made it clear that no evidence of extraterrestrial life had been found.
Democratic MP Jim Himes told NBC on Sunday that given the lack of information, social media are now wildly speculating about an alien invasion or further actions by the Chinese. That’s not helpful.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
