This post has been updated with additional details on a third shootdown of a high-flying object over U.S. airspace.
The U.S. downed two high-altitude flying objects that flew into North American airspace near Alaska and over Canada, a Pentagon spokesman said. On Sunday, the U.S. downed a third unidentified object over Lake Huron, Mich.
U.S. Coast Guard assets are assisting in the recovery mission for the third object, shot down on Sunday, that likely landed on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, U.S. Northern Command Gen. Glen VanHerck told reporters Sunday.
An Air Force F-16 used an AIM-9 sidewinder missile to shoot down the object Sunday afternoon while it was 20,000 feet in the air, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a Sunday statement.
“Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation. The location chosen for this shoot down afforded us the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery. There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected. North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object Sunday morning and has maintained visual and radar tracking of it,” Ryder said in the statement.
“Based on its flight path and data we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites. We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities. Our team will now work to recover the object in an effort to learn more.”
On Saturday, a combined intercept mission of American and Canadian fighters detected and downed a high-flying object over Canadian air space after detecting it over Alaska late Friday.
On Friday, around 1:45 p.m., an F-22 pilot, with the U.S. Northern Command, flew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, and shot an AIM-9x at the object, which was flying at about 40,000 feet, Ryder said during a Friday press briefing.
“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and pose a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” Ryder said. “U.S. Northern Command is beginning recovery operations now.”
The object flew into U.S. airspace on Thursday, Ryder said. The press secretary said that the object was not currently being classified as a balloon.
The Pentagon does not currently know the origin of the flying object, Ryder said. Once the debris is recovered, the Department of Defense will learn more. The balloon was identifiable as Chinese due to the Pentagon’s understanding of the Chinese surveillance program, he said.
The decision to shoot the object down quicker than the Chinese surveillance balloon, which was downed off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was due to the threat to civilian air travel, Ryder said.
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