The US Air Force destroyed an unidentified flying object in US airspace over Alaska on Friday, six days after a Chinese intelligence balloon was shot down near the country’s east coast, the US Department of Defense said.
Pat RyderA Pentagon spokesperson said they don’t yet know where the new package came from. Joe Biden The US President decided to quickly destroy it after the object also endangered civil aviation. The official said the plane was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet (about 12,000 meters) above sea level near the northern coast of Alaska when it was destroyed by a missile by an F-22 fighter jet early this afternoon Washington time.
– It is a car-sized antenna much smaller than a Chinese balloon. Pat Rider added that analysis of the remains will provide an answer as to their origin, and the investigation is already underway, but collecting debris from the sea surface and deep sea may take longer.
It was also said that the violation of US airspace lasted this time for a relatively short period, as the presence of the device was detected in the airspace on Thursday.
Last Saturday, the US military destroyed a Chinese balloon after eight days, which the US government considers to be a tool of China’s intelligence program, but China says it was a errant meteorological instrument. On Thursday, the US government announced that after analyzing the remains of the three Chinese bus-sized devices, it had come to the conclusion that they were also suitable for electronic intelligence and signal transmission.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives also unanimously approved a resolution condemning China for violating US sovereignty. Officials from the State Department, Department of Defense and FBI have also notified members of Congress behind closed doors. According to the leaked news, the meeting sparked serious tension in which Republicans criticized the Biden administration for waiting eight days after its discovery to destroy the Chinese device, MTI wrote.
