Biden ordered military to down 'high-altitude object,' White House says
The U.S. has shot down a "high-altitude object" that had been flying over Alaskan airspace, National Security Council official John Kirby revealed Friday.
"Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did," Kirby told reporters around 2:30 p.m. ET. "And it came inside our territorial waters – and those waters right now are frozen – but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters. Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour." He said officials decided to down the object, which the Pentagon had been tracking for the last 24 hours, because it was traveling at an altitude that could have posed a threat to civilian aircraft.
"We're calling this an object because that's the best description we have right now," Kirby went on. "We do not know who owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately-owned. We just don't know."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He added that the U.S. expects to recover the debris from Friday's object, and "then we can learn a little bit more about it."
The curious incident comes just days after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a moment that has mesmerized both Capitol Hill and the American public alike, The New York Times notes. The Biden administration has been fielding GOP criticism for having waited to down the balloon, though the administration has said the delay was out of concern the debris would hurt those on the ground.
On Friday, Kirby said the object was much smaller than the infamous surveillance balloon and was closer to the size of a "small car."
-
Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
-
Anna Ancher: Painting Light – a ‘moving’ and attention-grabbing exhibitionThe Week Recommends Dulwich Picture Gallery show celebrates the Danish artist’s ‘virtuosic handling of the shifting Nordic light’
-
H is for Hawk: Claire Foy is ‘terrific’ in tender grief dramaThe Week Recommends Moving adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
White House halts migrant visas for 75 countriesSpeed Read Brazil, Egypt, Russia, Iran and Somalia are among the nations on the list
-
White House ends TPS protections for SomalisSpeed Read The Trump administration has given these Somalis until March 17 to leave the US
-
A running list of everything Trump has named or renamed after himselfIn Depth The Kennedy Center is the latest thing to be slapped with Trump’s name
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
