Staff Reports
According to John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator, the U.S. was able to shoot down a high-altitude object that was flying over Alaska. This follows the downing of a Chinese spy balloon in Montana earlier this week.
During a press briefing, a reporter asked about the reports of another Chinese balloon being shot down over Alaska.
The Department of Defense was monitoring an unidentified object flying over Alaska's airspace for the last 24 hours. It was a reasonable flight hazard, and the president agreed to allow the military to shoot it down after consulting with the Pentagon.
The object was detected and shot down in the region of our territorial waters. It came from inside our territorial airspace. A fighter plane was able to take down the object in the last hour.
John Kirby:
"The Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaskan airspace in the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/hsgwy80eOJ
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) February 10, 2023
After being asked about the status of the investigation, Kirby noted that Biden ordered the military to shoot down the object. He said that the Pentagon leaders suggested the appropriate action.
The object was brought down using a fighter plane deployed from the U.S. Northern Command. Details about the nature of the object and its owner will be provided later on. Kirby also noted that the Pentagon did not know who the object's owner was. “We don’t know who it is,” he said, adding that the department doesn't understand its full purpose.
Although the Pentagon doesn't have solid information regarding the object's purpose, it's expected that the debris will be recovered. He said that the military was hopeful that the recovery effort would be successful.
The reporter then asked if the object looked similar to a Chinese aircraft.
When asked if the object was similar to the spy balloon that was shot down last week, Kirby noted that it was significantly smaller. He said that it measured about the size of a small car.
During a briefing, Biden downplayed the threat that the Chinese balloon posed to the US. The object, which was shot down in the Atlantic, was spotted across the country before it reached its intended destination.
In an interview, Biden noted that the amount of intelligence that's being gathered by various countries around the world is very large. He said that it wasn't a major breach.
He referred to the object as an international violation and said that the US could do whatever it wanted with it once it entered our airspace.
The preceding article is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Townhall
