U.S. military shot down another object flying at high altitude over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday afternoon. The Pentagon said it did not know what it was.
Another unidentified object was shot down in northern Canada on Saturday, marking the third time in a week that American fighter jets have downed objects in North American airspace.
On Friday, an unidentified object was shot down in Alaskan airspace.
And last weekend, a Chinese-origin balloon was shot down by F-22 fighters off the coast of South Carolina.
Are these objects related to the Chinese spy balloon?
No indication currently exists of a connection between these objects and the surveillance balloon from China that was shot down last week.
Deputy Defense Secretary for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, Melissa Dalton, told reporters on Sunday that the objects were shot down with an “abundance of caution.”
“The spy balloon was obviously different, as we knew exactly what it was,” she said. “These more recent objects do not pose a military threat, but their proximity to sensitive locations and the altitude at which they were flying could pose a danger to civil aviation and therefore raise concerns.”
Were the objects balloons?
A U.S. official told CNN that there was a request for caution from the Biden administration regarding the descriptions pilots made of the objects shot down in Alaska and Canada.
However, two senior members of the U.S. government and Congress, while commenting on the action, referred to balloons: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre.
Still, the Pentagon stated that the objects shot down on Friday and Saturday did not resemble a balloon very much, but once the debris is recovered, that information will be disclosed.
Why are these objects being seen now?
It was revealed that only about a year ago, the American intelligence community developed a reliable way to track China’s fleet of balloons. In other words, it is possible that these are not new objects flying over the country’s skies, but rather the ability to track them that is recent.
What is the size of the Chinese surveillance operation?
It is still unclear, but it seems to be quite large. Since news emerged last week about the Chinese balloon flying over U.S. airspace, new details have surfaced regarding what is now understood to be a global surveillance operation by China’s armed forces, the People’s Liberation Army.
On Thursday, authorities revealed that they believe the spy balloon discovered by the U.S. is part of a large fleet conducting surveillance operations globally. The U.S. has already tracked balloons in up to 40 countries across five continents.
Unanswered questions
The Capitol is demanding answers from the Biden administration regarding the unidentified objects. President Biden, who has yet to make any statement on the matter, is being pressed to speak out. After all, it is not just Congress that wants a position. The American public is also demanding answers as a series of “assumptions,” such as objects coming from space or another planet, have already emerged, especially on social media.
Source: CNN