The US has shot down an unknown object flying in its airspace, off the coastline of Alaska – just days after it downed a Chinese “spy” balloon.
The object, shot down on the order of President Joe Biden, was flying at a high altitude of about 40,000ft and was the size of a small car, the White House said.
It posed a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights, said John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman.
It was unclear where the object came from.
“We don’t know who owns this object,” said Mr Kirby.
US officials said: “Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object over water.”
An F-22 aircraft took down the object using a Sidewinder missile over territorial waters – now frozen.
There was no indication the object was manned, nor did the Pentagon know what speed it was travelling at.javascript:”<html><head><script src=’https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js’ async></script></head><body><div id=’proper-ad-skynews_signal_300x250_1′></div></body></html>”Advertisement
The incident happened just days after the US downed a Chinese balloon believed to be a spy aircraft.
