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President Biden orders military to shoot down 'object' over Alaska

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said it is unknown who the object belongs to but that it was not manned.

President Biden orders military to shoot down 'object' over Alaska
Susan Walsh / AP
By Scripps News Staff
SMS
February 10, 2023

The White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Friday afternoon that the military shot down an object flying 40,000 feet above Alaskan airspace earlier in the day.

It is unknown who the object belongs to but was not manned, Kirby said. President Joe Biden ordered the shootdown, Kirby said.

The object was flying near the coast of northeast Alaska, not far from the Canadian border, Kirby said.

"We don't understand the full purpose," Kirby said. "We do expect to be able to recover [it]."

Members of the U.S. Navy pull a suspected Chinese spy ballon from the ocean.

Navy recovers Chinese spy balloon in Atlantic after it was shot down

The Biden administration decided to bring down the Chinese balloon once it made its way to the ocean after it hovered over several states.

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This object was much smaller than the spy balloon U.S. military shot down off the South Carolina coast last week. He said the object shot down over Alaska was about the size of a small car, and had a much smaller debris field.

U.S. officials said the balloon shot down last week off the Carolina coast was believed to be a Chinese spy balloon.

Kirby said the object shot down on Friday posed a reasonable threat to civilian flight safety, given its altitude. The Pentagon said the balloon shot down last week flew at a much higher altitude, and did not pose a threat to flights.