The Pentagon says that a fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over the icy waters of Alaska. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said the object “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of the civilian flight.”
“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of the civilian flight,” Kirby said at a White House press briefing. “Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did, and it came inside our territorial waters.”
Kirby says that the military just downed in the last hour an object that was flying at 40k feet over Alaska airspace pic.twitter.com/A1tg8LCuhm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2023
Kirby said the object was “about the size of a small car,” whereas the Chinese spy balloon was as big as three school buses. “We don’t have any information that would confirm a stated purpose for this object,” Kirby said.
Kirby also confirmed that a military pilot assessed the object was not manned, and that there is no indication of the object having surveillance capabilities. He said Biden’s primary reason for ordering the military to shoot the object down “was the safety of flight issue.”
Kirby emphasized the differences between this object and the Chinese balloon that came into U.S. airspace last week, noting repeatedly the smaller size of the new object and that it was over water when Biden ordered to shoot it down. The president faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for the delay in shooting down the Chinese balloon, waiting for it to float across the country from Alaskan airspace all the way to the coast of South Carolina before a fighter jet took it down.
Obviously, the U.S. was on heightened alert, given the administration’s fumble with the spy balloon. But if we could detect an object the size of a small car to shoot down, why not the balloon? This action by Biden only makes the administration look more incompetent.
The Pentagon doesn’t think it was a balloon, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was another test from China to see if we’re really paying attention.
Then again, it might be an alien spacecraft. I sure hope Biden hasn’t blundered into starting an interplanetary war.
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