US military shoots down small object over Alaska

February 10, 2023

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For the second time in lower than every week, the U.S. navy has blasted an intruder out of the nation’s skies.

A fighter jet took out a mysterious object simply off the coast of northern Alaska at 1:45 p.m. EST (1845 GMT) on Friday (Feb. 10), Division of Protection officers mentioned.

“The article was flying at an altitude of 40,000 toes [12,000 meters] and posed an affordable menace to the security of civilian flight,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Pressure Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder mentioned throughout a press briefing on Friday.

Associated: Previous Chinese spy balloons over US were classified as UFOs: report

Friday’s high-altitude motion comes simply six days after an F-22 fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon with a Sidewinder missile off the South Carolina coast. However there is probably not a connection between the 2 downed objects.

The Chinese spy balloon was enormous; its inflated envelope was about 200 toes (60 meters) tall, and the (presumably instrument-studded) truss construction that hung beneath it was the scale of a number of college buses.

The article that was shot down over Alaska on Friday was “concerning the dimension of a small automotive, so, not related in dimension or form to the high-altitude surveillance balloon that was taken down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4,” Ryder mentioned.

Floor-based radar detected the Alaska intruder on Thursday (Feb. 9), he added. Fighter jets subsequently investigated, confirming the article’s presence and altitude. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the article to be taken out, and the navy did so shortly.

“We’ve no additional particulars concerning the object at the moment, together with an outline of its capabilities, goal or origin,” Ryder mentioned.

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 get well a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Seaside, South Carolina, on Feb. 5, 2023. (Picture credit score: U.S. Navy Photograph by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

Groups have already begun looking for items of the destroyed Alaska object, Ryder added. He additionally gave an replace about related efforts with the Chinese language balloon particles, which landed simply 6 miles (10 kilometers) offshore in water about 47 toes (14 m) deep.

“Restoration groups have mapped the particles discipline and are within the means of looking for and figuring out particles on the ocean ground,” Ryder mentioned, referring to items of the Chinese language balloon. “Particles that is been recovered up to now is being loaded onto vessels, taken ashore, cataloged after which moved onwards to labs for subsequent evaluation.”

These groups, he added, “have situated a big quantity of particles up to now that may show useful to our additional understanding of this balloon and its surveillance capabilities.”

Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a ebook concerning the seek for alien life. Observe him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).