US Shoots Down 4th Unidentified Flying Object in 8 Days
Summary from the AllSides News Team
NORAD downed another flying object over North American airspace on Sunday, the fourth in eight days.
The Details: A U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday, and another took down an unidentified “high-altitude object” on Saturday over Canada. According to U.S. officials, the object posed “a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”. The takedowns were authorized by both President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Recovery operations are underway. The origin of the balloons is unclear.
For Context: Sunday's takedown is the fourth over North America this week, including the original Chinese spy balloon, and an unidentified object shot down over Alaska on Friday. As of Monday, Congress has not been briefed on the two most recent takedowns yet.
Key Quotes: “I have real concerns about why the administration has not been more forthcoming with everything that it knows,” said Jim Himes, (D-CT). Mike Turner, (R-OH), said the Biden Administration was “somewhat trigger-happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”
How The Media Covered It: Sources across the political spectrum covered the events similarly, as the government hasn't yet fully disclosed details from the weekend takedowns.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Here is what we know about the unidentified objects shot down over North America
A high-altitude object was shot down near Lake Huron on Sunday afternoon, marking the fourth time in just over a week that the US military has taken down objects in North American airspace.
On Saturday, an unidentified object was downed over northern Canada, a day after another object had been shot down over Alaska airspace by a US F-22. Last weekend, a Chinese surveillance balloon was taken down by F-22s off the coast of South Carolina.
There’s no indication at this point that the unidentified objects have any connection to China’s surveillance balloon, but it seems that...
From the Center
U.S. shoots down a fourth high-altitude object as lawmakers demand more information
The U.S. military shot down a fourth unidentified object Sunday and expects to recover it. Officials said there were no indications of collateral damage and that the object went down in the lake.
“An F-16 fired an AIM9x to successfully shoot down an airborne object flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the State of Michigan,” according to a statement by the Pentagon on Sunday. “Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation.”
Rep. Jack Bergman,...
From the Right
Unidentified object shot down over Lake Huron — third in as many days
US fighter jets shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron on Sunday, marking the third time such action was taken in as many days and coming on the heels of last week’s Chinese spy balloon saga.
Sunday’s takedown is believed to have involved an octagonal object that was tracked by radar over Montana on Saturday, when it “flew in proximity to sensitive [Department of Defense] sites,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command located the object Sunday morning and tracked it visually and with...
AllSides Picks
May 14th, 2024
May 13th, 2024
More News about Defense and Security from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
