According to White House sources, the US blasted a high-altitude object above Alaska. This comes only days after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon and recovered the debris. John Kirby, US NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, stated, “The Department of Defence was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours. Fighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command took down the object within the last hour.” He stated that the object was shot around 1930 GMT and dropped on the northern side of Alaska in the Arctic Ocean, within US territorial space.
“We do not know who owns it, whether it’s state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned. We do expect to be able to recover the debris, since it fell not only within our territorial space but on what we believe is frozen water, so a recovery effort will be made. And we’re hopeful that it will be successful and we can learn a little bit more about it,” he said.
Responding to a reporter if the object’s appearance was like the Chinese balloon, Kirby said, “No, it was much much smaller than the spy balloon that we took down last Saturday.”
“The way it was described to me was roughly the size of a small car. As opposed to a payload that was like two or three buses’ size, right? So, much much smaller and no significant payload, if you will.”
The object was flying at 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to civilian flight safety
He went on to say that the item was flying at 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to civilian flight safety.
“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object,” Kirby added.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said, “The object was first detected inside American airspace on Thursday and posed a reasonable threat to civilian air traffic. F-22 fighter jet deployed an AIM-9X missile to take down the object and the US Northern Command is beginning recovery operations now.”
Meanwhile, a State Department official in the United States said on Thursday that the US will seek action against individuals or companies associated with China’s military that assisted in the launch of a surveillance balloon into international airspace last week. Washington is sure that the Chinese balloon producer had a “direct link” with the People’s Liberation Army when it was shot down by US soldiers last week (PLA).
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that the US would consider taking action
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that the US would consider taking action against such entities. However, the White House has not stated which actions are being considered. According to Jean-Pierre, the US would also consider broader attempts to “expose and address” China’s greater surveillance activities, which represent a threat to the national security of the US as well as its allies and partners.
The FBI, which is probing the spy balloon issue, told reporters that it had only gotten little physical evidence and lacked sufficient information to assess its capabilities.
“It’s very early for us in this process, and the evidence that has been recovered and brought to the FBI is extremely limited,” a bureau official said.
The flying Chinese balloon, according to Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, is another proof of Beijing’s ambitions to influence the international order.
“This irresponsible act put on full display what we’ve long recognized: that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad,” Sherman told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
