WASHINGTON – The US military shot down a second “high-altitude object” in US airspace, this time off the coast of Alaska on Friday, the White House announced.
The mission comes less than a week after a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
White House spokesman John Kirby hesitated to describe the plane as a balloon, saying “we call this an object because that’s the best description we have right now.” He also said US officials still do not know which country or group is responsible for this.
Kirby said the object was destroyed by a missile from an F-22 fighter jet off the northeast coast of Alaska.
The US military first learned of the object on Thursday night. Chairperson Joe Biden ordered it to be shot down on Friday morning, which was done shortly after noon.
An AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missile built by Raytheon is mounted on one of the 3rd Wing’s F-15C Eagle jets at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. On Saturday, February 4, 2023, when a Chinese surveillance balloon flew in US airspace about 6 nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina, a single F-22 fighter jet from Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base, flying at 58,000 feet, fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at it.
Mark farmers | AP
He said the plane was flying at about 40,000 feet, lower than the hot air balloon last week, and it was about the size of a small car.
Kirby said that unlike the balloon that was shot down on Saturday, the newest object does not appear to have any maneuverability.
According to Pentagon officials, last week’s spy balloon was about the size of three school buses. A sophisticated surveillance vehicle with propellers that give it maneuverability, the balloon carries payloads the size of a jet aircraft.
The latest incident is also significantly different from the previous one in that the floating object was shot down within hours of being discovered.
The previously larger balloon was allowed to fly across the United States for a week before Biden ordered it shot down.
The Pentagon defend that decision at a Senate hearing on Thursday, told lawmakers that a spy balloon’s primary value to the U.S. military lies in what can be learned from its flight, and its crumbs.
Sailors from Explosive Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 5, 2023.
Photo: US Navy
“A big part of the calculation for this operation is the ability to salvage, understand and exploit the capabilities of the high-altitude balloon,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton.
Another factor that influenced the decision to let the previous balloon stay in the air was that it was hovering at about 60,000 feet, where it posed no immediate threat to civilian aircraft. Commercial aircraft typically cruise at 35,000 feet.
However, the object that was shot down on Friday was hovering at just 40,000 feet, creating what the White House called a “reasonable threat” to aviation safety.
A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that the latest object recovery operation was underway, but was hampered by rough seas in the Arctic Ocean that made diving particularly dangerous.
