(Cover Photo Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal)
Over the last two weeks, the U.S. has shot down several unidentified flying objects out of the sky, amidst security concerns and risks to civilian aviation, according to officials. The sequence of events began on January 28th, when a balloon entered U.S. airspace near Alaska before flying over Canada and to the continental U.S. The balloon was described by U.S. officials as a Chinese spy balloon, with China’s Foreign Ministry denying the claim, stating that “[it is] a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes.” On February 4th, the balloon was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina, with Assistant Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton describing the balloon as nearly “200 feet tall with a jetliner size payload.”
According to U.S. officials, the balloon contained sensors and antennas used for collecting intelligence and communications, including solar panels which were capable of powering intelligence collection devices. China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the attack, calling the downing of the balloon a “clear overreaction” and a “serious violation of international practice”, going on to state that “China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned, and reserves the right to make further responses if necessary.”
(Photo Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal)
From February 10th to February 12th, three more similar UFOs were spotted and shot down, with two flying over U.S. airspace and one flying over Canadian airspace. The first UFO was shot down over the coast of Alaska on February 10th, while the second UFO was downed the next day over Canadian airspace in Yukon territory, and the latest UFO to be shot down was over the Great Lakes region at Lake Huron on February 12th. According to National Security Council spokesman Jack Kirby, the latest three objects have been difficult to recover, with the UFOs shot down over Alaska and Canada being located somewhere over remote terrain, and the other UFO shot down over Lake Huron being submerged deep underwater.
(Photo Courtesy of CBS)
It remains uncertain whether the latest three UFOs have any relation to the Chinese spy balloon shot down on February 4th, but according to Kirby, there is no evidence that the UFOs were a part of “external intelligence collection efforts” or China’s spying program.