The United States has shot down a suspicious object that was approaching Alaska through the air at a high altitude, the White House reported this Friday, without giving details about its provenance or whether it was a balloon.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who made the announcement, said it was a smaller object than the Chinese balloon shot down last week.
"I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaskan airspace within the last 24 hours," Kirby said.
“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flights.
Out of an abundance of caution and the recommendation of the Pentagon, President [Joe] Biden ordered the military to shoot down the object and they did so as it entered our territorial waters.
Those waters are now frozen.
But within the territorial airspace and over the territorial waters, fighter jets shot down the object in the last hour”, he added.
Kirby has referred to a Pentagon press briefing for additional details.
The Chinese balloon incident has soured relations between Beijing and Washington.
Following the sighting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off a trip to China, where he planned to arrive last Sunday.
And US President Joe Biden warned during his State of the Union address on Tuesday: "If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country."
China defends itself and maintains that it was a civilian weather balloon with scientific research functions.
The State Department responded Thursday that the balloon carried antennas capable of intercepting communications and solar panels large enough to generate power to power intelligence-gathering sensors.
He says the high-resolution images the Air Force took as the balloon passed through the United States last week show equipment designed for intelligence purposes and not typical of weather balloons.
The State Department claims that Beijing surveillance devices have flown over more than 40 countries on five continents.
In addition, it affirms that the Chinese balloon was equipped with instruments apparently capable of intercepting and geolocating communication signals, without specifying what type.
In addition, Washington assures that the company that manufactures the balloon, whose name has not been revealed, maintains ties with the Chinese Army and that it is considering taking action against the entities linked to the incursion into US airspace.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained, the United States has shared information with dozens of countries around the world, both from Washington and through embassies.
The Pentagon assures that there have been four previous balloons that have flown over US territory as part of a Chinese program that has been running for several years, three during the presidency of Donald Trump and another with that of Biden.
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