defense
US military shoots down “flying object” over Alaska
Security Council spokesman John Kirby at the White House briefing on Friday. photo
© Susan Walsh/AP/dpa
After shooting down a Chinese balloon, the US military is now also taking a “flying object” out of the sky over Alaska. What it is and where it comes from is still unclear.
A few days after shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, the US military shot down another “flying object” over American territory on Friday. This was announced by the communications director of the National Security Council, John Kirby, in Washington.
The flying object was about 12 kilometers above the state of Alaska and posed a threat to the safety of civil air traffic. Therefore, the military shot it down by order of President Joe Biden. Kirby emphasized that he could not say anything about the origin of the flying object. “We do not know who owns this object.”
Last Saturday, the US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the state of South Carolina over the Atlantic. The US government accuses China of using it to spy on military facilities. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that was off course – the Chinese government saw the launch as an “overreaction”. The incident caused additional tension in the already strained relationship between the two countries.
“About the size of a small car”
Looking at the flying object that has now appeared, Kirby emphasized several times on Friday that there is still no knowledge of where it came from and what it was aiming for. “We don’t know what that object was,” he said. “We assume that we will be able to recover the rubble.” Parts of the object probably fell on frozen water after it was shot down. “We hope that the salvage will be successful and then we can learn a bit more about it.”
The flying object was first sighted on Thursday evening (local time), Kirby said. Biden was informed immediately and gave the firing order on Friday morning. According to preliminary findings, the flying object is significantly smaller than the downed Chinese balloon. “It was described to me as being about the size of a small car,” Kirby said. China’s balloon, on the other hand, was more the size of two or three buses. He emphasized: “We will continue to keep a close eye on our airspace.”
The appearance of the large Chinese observation balloon in American airspace had triggered major diplomatic upheavals in the past few days. In view of the dispute over the balloon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing at short notice. The US government also made numerous findings about the balloon public, increasing the pressure on Beijing. The State Department in Washington accused China of operating an extensive international surveillance program: China had targeted more than 40 countries on five continents with a fleet of spy balloons. The Chinese government has denied the allegations and accused the US government of waging an “information war” over the allegations of espionage.