A “flying object” shot down by the US military over the state of Alaska is a mystery. An F-22 fighter jet shot down the object at an altitude of about twelve kilometers on Friday, the US government said.
The main reason for this action was to endanger civil air traffic. However, it was initially unclear where the flying object came from and what purpose it served.
The incident is reminiscent of the Chinese balloon allegedly used for espionage purposes that the US Air Force had taken down a week ago. It was initially unclear whether there was a connection between the two cases.
The launch
The flying object was first sighted Thursday evening (local time), National Security Council communications director John Kirby said. US President Joe Biden was immediately notified and issued the resignation order Friday morning. American fighter jets had approached the object earlier. The pilots would have ensured that the flying object was unmanned.
It was shot off the coast of Alaska near the Canadian border – not far from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Ottawa government was also aware of the project. The military said the shooting did not pose a major risk to people or buildings on the ground.
What is known so far about the «flying object»
According to the US government, the object was about the size of a small car. It was much smaller than the Chinese balloon, which was more like two to three school buses. According to initial findings, the object itself should not have been agile.
According to Kirby, it also flew much lower than the Chinese balloon – which was a whopping 18 kilometers high. Unlike the object now shot down, the balloon was above the maximum height for civil aviation. CNN, citing a US government official, reported that the object appeared to have no surveillance equipment.
Many open questions
A mystery was initially where the object came from. “I want to reiterate that we don’t know who owns this property,” Kirby said. The US government also stressed that it did not know what purpose the object had pursued. “Last week we talked about a surveillance object that was deliberately flown over the mainland United States,” Kirby said. This time it would be about an object that people don’t know much about.
It is clear, however, that the object posed a “potential threat to passenger safety”. The “New York Times” wrote that several US officials believed the new object was also a balloon. However, a Defense Ministry representative stressed that the object broke into pieces when it hit the frozen sea.
The storage room
The US government is now hoping for more information by recovering the rubble. After being shot down off the coast of Alaska near the Canadian border, parts of the object likely fell into frozen water. It was said that the debris was not so widely scattered due to the small size of the object.
The salvage should still be difficult, the Washington Post wrote. A number of aircraft are deployed at the crash site. It becomes problematic if they can’t land on the potentially unstable ice to collect the debris.
The Chinese balloon
Despite major differences, the incident is reminiscent of the Chinese balloon launch last Saturday. The US military hovered it over the US mainland for several days and then shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina.
The United States accuses the Chinese government of using it to spy on military facilities. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course – describing the launch as an “overreaction”. The incident added tension to the already tense relationship between the two countries. US President Biden had been criticized by Republicans for being too hesitant on the matter. Now some Republicans praised the Democrats for his quick action.
Unidentified flying objects are not uncommon
In 2020, the Department of Defense created a task force to analyze “unexplained airborne phenomena that may pose a threat to U.S. national security.” Since then, the group has been publishing reports on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAP) at irregular intervals – most recently a few weeks ago. It turned out that the US military has no explanation for numerous sightings of unidentified flying objects.
In contrast, other sightings were classified as “inconspicuous” — they could be traced to common objects in the sky — such as drones, balloons and debris such as plastic bags, the report said. Reports of unexplained celestial phenomena have increased. However, the Pentagon had made it clear that no evidence of extraterrestrial life had been found.
Sources
(dsc/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
