A U.S. military fighter jet has shot down an unknown object flying off the remote northern coast of Alaska on orders from President Joe Biden.
White House National Security Council Spokesman, John Kirby disclosed that the object was downed because it was flying at about 40,000 feet (13,000 meters) and posed a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights, not because of any knowledge that it was engaged in surveillance.
Asked about the object’s downing, President Joe Biden said only that “It was a success.”
Commercial airliners and private jets can fly as high as 45,000 feet (13,700 meters).
Kirby described the object as roughly the size of a small car, much smaller than the massive suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by Air Force fighter jets last week off the coast of South Carolina after it transited over sensitive military sites across the continental U.S.
Kirby maintained that Biden, based on the advice of the Pentagon, believed the object posed enough of a concern to shoot it out of the sky; primarily because of the potential risk to civilian aircraft.
“We’re going to remain vigilant about our airspace. The President takes his obligations to protect our national security interests as paramount.”
White House National Security Council Spokesman, John Kirby
The object flew over one of the most desolate places on the nation. Few towns dot Alaska’s North Slope, with the two apparently closest communities; Deadhorse and Kaktovik, combining for about 300 people. The Prudhoe Bay oil field on the North Slope is the largest of such field in the United States.
Ahead of the shoot-down, the Federal Aviation Administration restricted flights over a roughly 10-square mile (26-square kilometer) area within U.S. airspace off Alaska’s Bullen Point, the site of a disused U.S. Air Force radar station on the Beaufort Sea about 130 miles (210 kilometers) from the Canadian border, inside the Arctic Circle.
The two shoot down incidences in such close succession are extraordinary, and reflect heightened concerns over China’s surveillance program and public pressure on Biden to take a tough stand against it.
Still, there were few answers about the unknown object which was shot down and the White House drew distinctions between the two episodes. Officials could not say if the latest object contained any surveillance equipment, where it came from or what purpose it had.
Canada Supports The Shoot Down
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau divulged in a tweet that he had been briefed and supported the decision.
“Our military and intelligence services will always work together,” he said.
Also, Canadian Defense Minister, Anita Anand released a statement expressing support for the US shooting down an object over Alaska , saying the object never flew into Canadian airspace.
Anand said the joint US-Canada aerospace agency NORAD deployed aircraft to track and monitor the object and helped with the decision-making process.
Eventually, the Defense Minister wrote, she “conveyed Canada’s support for taking action to take down this object.”
“The Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defense and I will continue to work closely with our American allies to ensure the protection of North American airspace.”
Canadian Defense Minister, Anita Anand
The object fell onto frozen waters and officials expected that they could recover debris faster than from last week’s massive balloon.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary, disclosed that an F-22 fighter aircraft based at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson shot down the object using an AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile, the same type used to take down the balloon nearly a week ago.
Ryder said the object was traveling northeast when it was shot down. He added that several U.S. military helicopters have gone out to begin the recovery effort.
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