The US military shot down a “high-altitude object” off the coast of Alaska on Friday, White House spokesman John Kirby said, a week after releasing a Chinese spy balloon that floated in American airspace.
The object, which Kirby said was “about the size of a small car”, passed over land in Alaska before being shot down by a fighter jet on Friday morning local time, falling into frozen waters near the northeastern border with Canada.
“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civil aviation,” Kirby said. “Out of caution and with the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Joe Biden ordered the military to take down the object, and they did.”
The discovery of the object comes less than a week after the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had been floating for days in North American airspace. Examination of the balloon by the U-2 spy plane while in the air revealed that the balloon was equipped with an antenna for intelligence gathering.
The US commerce department on Friday placed six Chinese groups on an “entity list” – a trade blacklist – in connection with spy balloons.
He said it was added to the list because of its role in supporting China’s spy balloon program and other aerospace programs used by the Chinese military for intelligence and reconnaissance operations.
“Today’s action represents a concerted effort to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which violate the airspace of the United States and more than 40 countries,” said Matthew Axelrod, a senior trade official.
Targeted groups include Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute, and Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology.
The other three entities are Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group, Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology, and Shanxi Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group.
US companies are prohibited from exporting American technology to groups on the list without an export license, but the commerce department explained that there would be a “presumption of refusal” in such cases.
US officials said they had not determined the origin or ownership of the second flying object, or what destination it was headed for.
“We don’t know who owns it,” Kirby said. “It’s smaller than the spy balloon we intercepted last Saturday.”
He added: “At the moment I am not classifying the balloon. It is an object. We are still trying to learn more.
Unlike the Chinese balloon, the latest object does not have a “significant payload”, Kirby said, nor does it have the ability to maneuver independently.
He said Biden’s main motivation for ordering the object down was a threat to civil aviation, adding that it was at a lower altitude than the spy balloon shot down last week, which flew at 65,000 feet.
The U.S. learned about the object Thursday evening, Kirby said, and used fighter jets to fly around it and determine if the object was unmanned before it was shot down.
Air Force Gen. Patrick Ryder said the U.S. expected to recover the debris, which fell in territorial waters after an F-22 fighter jet destroyed the object using an AIM-9X sidewinder missile.
Frozen water can make it easier to recover the object, Kirby said.
Biden faced criticism last week from Republican lawmakers, who said his administration should shoot down Chinese spy balloons before they can fly over the US.
Military leaders advised against doing so to avoid potential danger to people on the ground, and defense officials said the long time in the air allowed them to gather intelligence on the matter.