US shoots down flying ‘object’ over Alaska

President Joe Biden gave the order. The United States killed Friday, February 10 a “high-flying object” over Alaska, a White House spokesman said, without giving details of its nature or origin. This “object”which he said had “the size of a small car” and flew at an altitude of about 12,000 m, posed “a threat to air traffic safety”said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We don’t know who owns it, if it’s a state or a company or an individual, we don’t know. (…) And we don’t understand its use for the time being”he assured.

It was clarified that this object was “much smaller” than the Chinese balloon that the United States destroyed last Saturday, which was also flying at a higher altitude. The debris fell on frozen waters in northern Alaska near the Canadian border, John Kirby said. He said the United States would work to get them back. The spokesperson said that unlike the Chinese balloon, this object did not appear to have a propulsion system or controls allowing it to steer. John Kirby finally indicated that an aerial reconnaissance mission carried out around the object before it was destroyed had established that there was no occupant inside.