What is Known About the Four Objects Shot Down Over North America?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The United States military shot down at least four objects inside U.S. and Canadian airspace in the past two weeks. While one object has been definitely linked to a Chinese surveillance program, questions surround the other three as authorities gather and inspect the debris.
Key Point: The sudden increase in downed objects is being commonly attributed to the U.S. military’s heightened awareness and increased scrutiny for intrusions on American airspace following the Chinese spy balloon.
What Are They? On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told ABC News (Lean Left Bias) that the two objects shot down over Alaska and Canada were also balloons, but far smaller than the prior one linked to China. The object shot down Sunday over Lake Huron has not been identified as a balloon.
Why So Many Now? A Washington Examiner piece quoted an official at Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs stating, “In light of the People's Republic of China balloon that we took down last Saturday, we have been more closely scrutinizing our airspace at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase in objects that we've detected over the past week,” An NBC News article stated that the U.S. military is “looking at a wider range of radar data” to monitor North American airspace and is giving more attention to “smaller objects that it might have filtered out as clutter in the past,” citing information from U.S. defense officials.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
What we know and don’t know about the latest objects shot down by the USThree more objects were shot down by the U.S. military over the weekend after officials said they posed a threat to civilian airspace.
The remarkable development came roughly one week after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina days after it was first reported to be hovering over the continental United States.
President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday authorized the mission, and Biden ordered the U.S. military to send an F-22 fighter jet to take the object down in...
From the Right
What we know about the uptick in mystery objects being shot down from US airspaceThe public spent Super Bowl weekend anxiously watching the skies as the U.S. military shot down a series of unidentified flying objects over the United States and Canada.
The Pentagon oversaw the shooting down of three unidentified objects in as many days — the first on Friday over Alaska, the second on Saturday over Canada's Yukon territory, and the third on Sunday over Lake Huron. The chaotic series of events came just over a week after the U.S. downed a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic coast.
U.S. officials confirmed...
From the Left
What you need to know about the four high-altitude objects shot down over North AmericaThe unidentified object the U.S. shot down Sunday over Lake Huron was the fourth taken down over North America in less than two weeks and the third in as many days.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told ABC News that U.S. officials believe an object shot down Friday over Alaska, as well as the one downed Saturday over Canada, were balloons. So was the object shot down this month off South Carolina, which officials said China was using for surveillance.
A national security spokesperson said the objects over Canada and...
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