President Joe Biden on Friday ordered the military to down what the US is describing as a “high-altitude object” hovering over Alaska, CNN reports.
The object, flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and the “size of a small car,” was shot down near the Canadian border on water that is frozen in the Arctic Ocean, a White House official said, adding that the craft “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.”
The Pentagon said the object was detected last evening and appeared to be unmanned.
Biden gave the order to down a “high-altitude object” earlier Friday, according to John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.
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Kirby explained that the object did not appear to be self-maneuvering, making it “much less predictable,” which led to the president’s decision to take it down.
The object was then shot down by an F-22 fighter jet from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Asked if he had any comment on the object shot down over Alaska, President Biden told reporters that “it was a success.”
A recovery operation is underway now.
The incident comes days after the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that crossed the country.
