South Carolina, Alaska, Canada, and Michigan’s Lake Huron each reported unidentified objects flying overhead.
QUICK FACTS:
- Over the course of 8 days, 4 “unidentified objects” have been shot down across the United States and Canada.
- Head of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and U.S. Northern Command General Glen VanHerck said during a press briefing that the ongoing takedowns of aerial objects are part of a “heightened alert” status following the initial Chinese surveillance balloon.
- Assistant defense secretary for homeland defense Melissa Dalton stated that government officials were “more closely scrutinizing our airspace at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase.”
- The officials have “adjusted” various fields of information to “get a better categorization of radar tracks now,” also contributing to the sudden increase of objects being shot down across North America.
- When asked by reporters if there is precedent for shooting down an object over U.S. airspace, General VanHerck responded that this is the “first time within United States or America airspace that NORAD or United States Northern Command has taken kinetic action against an airborne object.”
- The latest objects to be removed from the nation’s airspace were described to be significantly smaller and flew at different altitudes than the initial surveillance balloon.
- The objects over Alaska and Canada are said to have flown at 40,000 feet, with the object over Lake Huron flying at 20,000 feet.
TIMELINE OF AERIAL OBJECTS:
- The first balloon entered the United States from Alaska, passed over Canada, and then traveled through several U.S. states before being taken down over South Carolina on February 4th.
- The second “balloon-like” object, as described by National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, was taken down over Alaska on February 9th.
- A third object was seen over Canada on February 10th, leading Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call President Biden and remove the “small, cylindrical object.” It was shot down on February 11th.
- The most recent flying object was shot down over Lake Huron, Michigan, on February 12th, and was reported to be octagonal and unmanned.
BACKGROUND:
- While the United States media reported at length the surveillance capabilities of the Chinese spy balloon, China asserted that more than 10 high-altitude balloons have flown into its airspace since the start of 2022.
- National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the assertion is “false,” adding, “It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the U.S. and over 40 countries across 5 continents.”
