INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was the fourth such downing in eight days and the latest military strike in an extraordinary chain of events over US airspace that
balloon from China that emerged over US airspace in late January, Gen
Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and US Northern Command, said in a briefing with reporters.Since then, fighter jets last week also shot down
objects over Canada and Alaska
constantly monitor for unknown radar blips, and it is not unusual to shut down airspace as a precaution to evaluate them
But the unusually assertive response was raising questions about whether such use of force was warranted, particularly as administration
officials said the objects were not of great national security concern and the downings were just out of caution.VanHerck said the US
adjusted its radar so it could track slower objects
American airspace that NORAD or United States Northern Command has taken kinetic action against an airborne object."Asked if officials have
to determine what exactly the objects were and said they had considered using the jets' guns instead of missiles, but it proved to be too
They drew a strong distinction between the three shot down over this weekend and the balloon from China.The extraordinary air defense
activity began in late January, when a white orb the officials said was from China appeared over the US and hovered above the nation for
days before fighter jets downed it off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
That event played out over livestream
Since, then many Americans have been captivated by the drama playing out in the skies as fighter jets scramble to shoot down objects.The
latest brought down was first detected on Saturday evening over Montana, but it was initially thought to be an anomaly
Radar picked it up again Sunday hovering over the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it was going over Lake Huron, Pentagon officials said
Sunday.US and Canadian authorities had restricted some airspace over the lake earlier Sunday as planes were scrambled to intercept and try
According to a senior administration official, the object was octagonal, with strings hanging off, but had no discernable payload
It was flying low at about 20,000 feet, said the official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disuscMeanwhile, US
officials were still trying to precisely identify two other objects shot down by F-22 fighter jets, and were working to determine whether
China was responsible as concerns escalated about what Washington said was Beijing's large-scale aerial surveillance program.An object shot
A flying object brought down over the remote northern coast of Alaska on Friday was more cylindrical and described as a type of airship.Both
were believed to have a payload, either attached or suspended from them, according to the officials who spoke to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation
Officials were not able to say who launched the objects and were seeking to figure out their origin.The three objects were much smaller in
size, different in appearance and flew at lower altitudes than the suspected spy balloon that fell into the Atlantic Ocean after the US
missile strike.The officials said the other three objects were not consistent with the fleet of Chinese aerial surveillance balloons that
altitude of about 60,000 feet
US officials immediately blamed China, saying the balloon was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals and could maneuver itself
White House officials said improved surveillance capabilities helped detect it.China's Foreign Ministry said the unmanned balloon was a
civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course
organization that provides shared defense of airspace over the two nations, detected and shot down an object near sparsely populated
Deadhorse, Alaska.Later that evening, NORAD detected a second object, flying at a high altitude over Alaska, US officials said
It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday and was over the Yukon, a remote territory, when it was ordered shot down by Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau.In both of those incidents, the objects were flying at roughly 40,000 feet
The object on Sunday was flying at 20,000 feet.The cases have increased diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, raised
