{"id":30400,"date":"2023-02-10T20:52:50","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T20:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/02\/10\/fighter-aircraft-shoot-down-car-sized-object-near-alaska\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:26:17","slug":"fighter-aircraft-shoot-down-car-sized-object-near-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2023\/02\/10\/fighter-aircraft-shoot-down-car-sized-object-near-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighter aircraft shoot down car-sized \u2018object\u2019 flying near Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A U.S. fighter shot down a small, foreign \u201cobject\u201d over Alaska just days after a surveillance balloon from China was downed off the East Coast. Officials provided few details of the craft, but are collecting wreckage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Air Force fighters shot down<\/a> an undetermined object of unknown origin off the coast of Alaska on Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The object was the size of a small car and was traveling near Alaska\u2019s border with Canada, but the administration hasn\u2019t determined exactly what it was and whether it was state-owned<\/a>, Kirby said. Pilots on scene were able to assess that it was unmanned, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did and it caved in inside our territorial waters,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object through ground radar on Thursday, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed, calling in F-22 fighters to shoot it down with an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,\u201d Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing Friday. \u201cU.S. Northern Command is beginning recovery operations now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military helicopters are on scene to collect debris from the object, resting on ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Kirby and Ryder said that pilots were able to fly near the object, but could not confirm whether it was a balloon.<\/p>\n\n\n\t