BREAKING: The U.S. military shot down a high-altitude, unidentified object over Alaska at President Biden's direction, the White House said.
"It was much, much smaller than the spy balloon we took down last Saturday," he said, describing it as the size of a small car.– which the U.S. knew was a surveillance asset – Kirby said it's unclear what this object was doing over Alaska. This new object was at a much lower altitude than the spy balloon, which was at 65,000 feet.
"The predominant concern by the president [about the new object] was a safety of flight issue at that altitude," Kirby said. "It did not appear to have the maneuverable capability that the other one did – so [it was] virtually at the whim of the wind," he said.The military first became aware of the object last evening, Kirby said, declining to give a more specific time.
He said fighter aircraft went"up and around" the object, and the pilot's assessment was that it was not manned. The object debris landed"just off the very, very northeastern part of Alaska" near the Canadian border, on the frozen Arctic Ocean, Kirby said. He said the debris may be easier to recover because it is on ice.This story will be updated
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