President Joe Biden ordered the US military to shoot down objects flying over Alaska, the White House said on Friday, less than a week after a fighter jet shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean.
“Out of caution on the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to take down the object and they did,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The object was in US territorial waters, flying at 40,000 feet, and “presented a reasonable threat to the safety of civil aviation,” Kirby said.
The object was smaller than the spy balloon brought down last week — about the size of a small car, the White House said. The US does not know whether the object is state or private, but the Pentagon hopes to recover the object as it fell into the frozen water.
There was no indication the object had propulsion or maneuverability like the balloon brought down last week, Kirby said.
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