In a statement released on Sunday by the Pentagon, it was stated that President Joe Biden had given the order for U.S. fighter jets to engage an “unidentified object” that was flying over Lake Huron.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, authorities from the United States and Canada ordered the closure of the airspace above the lake so that military aircraft could investigate the mysterious object. The lake can be found on both sides of the international boundary between the two countries.
According to Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman, the unknown object is described as an “octagonal construction.”
Bergman was informed that an F-16 equipped with an AIM-9 missile had destroyed an octagonal structure around 20,000 feet above Lake Huron.
Officials at the Pentagon are under the impression that the object is identical to that was discovered over Montana on Saturday. This is the fourth item that has been stopped by security so far this month.
Elissa Slotkin, a member of the United States House of Representatives who represents a district in Michigan close to the location of the occurrence, tweeted that pilots from the United States Air Force and the National Guard had successfully shot down the object. Slotkin said in a tweet that she had been contacted by the Department of Defense on the new information.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated on Sunday that U.S. national security officials believe that two other high-altitude objects that were shot down over the northern United States and Canada were balloons but that these balloons were significantly smaller than the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean more than a week ago.
Schumer stated on ABC’s “This Week” that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan briefed him on the preliminary findings regarding the objects. One of the objects was brought down over icy waters close to the state of Alaska on Friday, and another was brought down over the Yukon on Saturday.
Schumer did not provide any additional information regarding the origin of the balloons. However, he stated that both were shot down by U.S. fighter jets, the second with permission from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after both were spotted on radar approximately 12,000 metres (40,000 feet) above the Earth and deemed a threat to commercial aircraft flying at a similar altitude. The second shot down was carried out with permission from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Schumer has emphasised that the government will take appropriate action if any American interests jeopardise Americans’ safety.
The object shot down by the US military over Lake Huron most likely fell into Canadian territorial waters, said the Pentagon.
The US officials said they could not attribute recently shot down unknown objects to balloons and do not know how they are kept in the air.
