US shoots down 'high-altitude object' over Alaska after Chinese balloon crisis

By Rebecca Shabad -

The Pentagon on Friday shot down a "high-altitude object" that was flying over Alaskan airspace and that the Department of Defense was tracking in the last 24 hours, John Kirby of the National Security Council reported at the White House.

"The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flights," he said, "out of an abundance of caution and on the recommendation of the Pentagon, the president ordered the military to shoot it down, which they did." "It fell into our territorial waters, which are now frozen," he added.

Fighter jets assigned to Northern Command shot down the object "within the last hour," Kirby said around 2:30 p.m. ET.