U.S. shoots down ‘high-altitude’ object over Alaska – National | 24CA News

The United States shot down a “high-altitude” object because it flew over Alaska close to the northern Canadian border on Friday, White House officers confirmed amid ongoing issues over Chinese surveillance balloons flying over North America.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby wouldn’t say if the thing was a balloon or what entity owned it. He mentioned the thing, concerning the dimension of a “small car,” was flying at 40,000 ft and posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian plane.

President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down the thing “out of an abundance of caution” and on the Pentagon’s advice, Kirby added.

The incident got here every week after U.S. and Canadian officers first confirmed a Chinese surveillance balloon had flown over Canada and throughout the continental U.S. over the course of a number of days. The balloon was finally shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

Kirby mentioned the thing shot down Friday was “much, much smaller” than the Chinese balloon and was not carrying a “significant payload.” Efforts are underway to get better the thing.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday, Defence Minister Anita Anand didn’t say Friday the place the sooner balloon was when it first entered Canadian airspace, or what areas it handed over and for a way lengthy it was over Canada earlier than heading south.

The U.S. navy and coast guard are working to get better items of the downed balloon for evaluation and so they’re working to find out if it collected any intelligence from both nation, Anand mentioned.

The balloon’s sighting has reignited tensions between the U.S. and China and raised renewed fears of international surveillance and interference by Beijing.

—With information from Aaron D’Andrea

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.