The White House revealed this Friday that it authorized the shooting down of an “unknown object” that was flying at a high altitude over Alaska in the morning.
Spokesman John Kirby said it was unmanned and “the size of a small car.” But he declined to describe its nature, although he made it clear that the Pentagon cannot confirm if it was a balloon Chinese as the one shot down in South Carolina.
“President Joe Biden made the decision to shoot down the object as soon as it was known that it was unmanned,” Kirby said.
Kirby explained that the object was flying over Alaska at an altitude of 12,000 meters and that it posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aircraft.
Shot down by an F-22 fighter, the object fell into currently frozen US waters. Its debris is “much, much smaller” than the Chinese balloon shot down last week.
Intelligence officials became aware of the object’s existence Thursday night, according to Kirby. “We don’t know who the owner is, if he is state, corporate or private,” he said.
On the other hand, the Chinese globe was equipped to detect and collect signals intelligence as part of a military-linked aerial surveillance program, targeting more than 40 countries, the Biden administration said on Thursday from a small amount of salvaged wreckage.
A senior State Department official gave CNN the most specificity to date linking China’s military to the globe. The public details, outlining the scope and capabilities of the program, were meant to refute China’s denials that the balloon was used for spying.
