Reuters : U.S. shoots down UFO above Alaska

[glockman]

U.S. shoots down unidentified object flying above Alaska​

By Andrea Shalal

, Steve Holland and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. F-22 fighter jet on Friday shot down an unidentified object flying high over Alaska, U.S. officials said, less than a week after the military brought down a Chinese balloon that had flown across the United States.

A Sidewinder missile downed the latest craft, which was about the size of a small car, said U.S. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson.
"We don't know who owns this object," said White House spokesperson John Kirby, adding that it was unclear where it began its flight.

President Joe Biden ordered the shootdown, which was announced from the White House.

On Feb. 4, another U.S. F-22 fighter jet brought down what the U.S. government called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina following its week-long journey across the United States and portions of Canada. China's government has said it was a civilian research vessel.

Some lawmakers criticized the president for not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner. The U.S. military had recommended waiting until it was over the ocean out of fear of injuries from falling debris.

The Pentagon and the White House declined to give a detailed description of the latest object, saying only that it was far smaller than the Chinese balloon.

U.S. officials declined to speculate about what the object might be, even after a day of observation, raising questions about what kind of object could be so difficult to identify by experienced U.S. pilots and intelligence officials.

The Pentagon said it was first detected on Thursday using ground radars. F-35 aircraft were then sent to investigate. The UFO was flying at about 40,000 feet (12,190 meters) in a northeasterly direction, posing a risk to civilian air traffic.

The object was shot down off the coast of northeastern Alaska over frozen U.S. territorial waters near the Canadian border. Officials said it would be far easier to retrieve pieces of the object from the ice than it was with the Chinese balloon, pieces of which sank in the ocean when it was shot down.

Ryder said American pilots who flew alongside the latest object before it was downed determined that no human was aboard. He added it was incapable of maneuvering and did not resemble an airplane. Ryder and other officials would not say whether it could simply be a weather balloon or another type of balloon.

"It wasn't an aircraft per se," Ryder told a news briefing.

The F-22 shot down the object at 1:45 p.m. EST.


https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-says-it-shot-down-object-over-alaska-size-small-car-2023-02-10/

 

[red amoeba]

It’s Biden stupid prank. He will say it’s from Russia this time.

 

[glockman]

High-altitude object shot down off Alaska, US says​

• • Published

• • 12 hours ago

Media caption,
Air Force plane over Alaska after US strikes 'object'
By Sam Cabral & Chloe Kim
BBC News, Washington

US President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified "high-altitude object" off Alaska on Friday, the White House says.

Spokesman John Kirby said the unmanned object was "the size of a small car" and posed a "reasonable threat" to civilian aviation.

The object's purpose and origin was unclear, Mr Kirby said.

It comes a week after the American military destroyed a Chinese balloon over US territorial waters.

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Kirby said the debris field of the object shot down on Friday was "much, much smaller" than the balloon shot down last Saturday off the coast of South Carolina.

He said that the object was flying at 40,000ft (12,000m) over the northern coast of Alaska.

It had already flown across Alaska at a speed of 20 to 40mph (64km/h) and was out over the sea travelling towards the North Pole, when it was shot down.
Commercial airlines can fly as high as 45,000ft.

Helicopters and transport aircraft have been deployed to collect debris from the frozen waters of the Beaufort Sea.

"We do not know who owns it, whether it's state owned or corporate owned or privately owned," Mr Kirby said.

The object was first spotted on Thursday night, though officials did not specify a time.

He said two fighter jets had approached the object and assessed there was nobody on board, and this information was available to Mr Biden when he made his decision.

"We're going to remain vigilant about our airspace," Mr Kirby asserted. "The president takes his obligations to protect our national security interests as paramount."

According to ABC News, the object seemed to have no propulsion.

It seemed to be floating, "cylindrical and silver-ish grey", reports the network's chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, citing an unnamed US official.

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the object was "not similar in size or shape" to last week's Chinese balloon.

He confirmed that an F-22 jet had shot down the object with a sidewinder missile at 13:45 EST (18:45 GMT) on Friday.

Image source, Getty Images
The Pentagon said an F-22, seen here in an archive photograph, shot down the object on Friday afternoon local time

The warplane was scrambled from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Gen Ryder said a significant amount of debris had been recovered so far. It was being loaded on to vessels and taken to "labs for subsequent analysis", he added.

Officials said they had not yet determined whether the object was involved in surveillance, and Mr Kirby corrected a reporter who referred to it as a balloon.

He did not specify where exactly the object was shot down, but the Federal Aviation Administration said it had closed about 10 sq miles of US airspace airspace above Deadhorse, northern Alaska, before the F-22 fired.

The site is about 130 miles from the border of Canada, whose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter he had been briefed on the "object that violated American airspace" and "supported the decision to take action".

No other objects of a threatening nature have been identified above the US at this time, according to the White House.

Mr Kirby said the object did not appear to have the manoeuvrable capability of the Chinese balloon and seemed to be "virtually at the whim of the wind".

Hours after the US shot down the balloon last Saturday, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called his Chinese counterpart via their special crisis line.

But Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe declined to pick up, according to the Pentagon.

Chinese officials on Friday accused the US of "political manipulation and hype".

In an interview on Thursday, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese balloon, maintaining that it was not "a major breach".

Late on Friday, five Chinese companies and one research institute were added to the US government's trade blacklist. Organisations were placed on the list for their alleged support of Chinese military aerospace programmes - including airships and balloons - the US Commerce Department announced.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64605447

 

[mojito]

Chink drone!

 

[syed putra]

Now what? War with martians?

 

[blackmondy]

They are not UFO but UTO....aka Unauthorized Tiong Object.

 

[Eisenhut]

Its china warning la, if can send 1 balloon, means can send 10k balloons

 

[laksaboy]

 

[Eisenhut]

NOPE movie become real shxt!

 

[saynotomsm]

Starting to feel like all these are some kind of distraction created to divert people's attention away from the ongoing congress investigation.

 

[laksaboy]

Don't forget the cheebai cloud hovering over Turkey before the earthquakes.

 

[glockman]

These UFOs are probably the scouts, sent in to probe and gather intel. Before the mothership is deployed for the main invasion.

 

[blackmondy]

These UFOs are probably the scouts, sent in to probe and gather intel. Before the mothership is deployed for the main invasion.

It's a probe droid, just with balloon, like the one in Empire Strikes Back.

 

[cocobobo]

What will happen to Sg property price?

 

[ftan42]

ufo is not from 2nd tiong

 

[Willamshakespear]

For sure, it is most certainly an UFO - an UNIDENTIFIED Floating Object, nothing more.

However, it seemed strange that the supposed UFO is shot down, instead of further studying. Jet fighters are armed with CAMERAS, so why no pic was taken before it was shot down? After all, according to the briefings, it was just moving with the wind, not a flying object & smaller than an aircraft. Why waste a hundred thousand dollar missile to shoot it down than to take pics 1st?

Even spy satellites alone are known to be capable of taking the pic of a car's license plate number on the streets from hundreds of miles above earth, had it not been utilized to take a pic of the object for study before shooting it down?

Also, why was the F-35 jet fighter not used to tail the object? The F-35 is capable of hovering even in hi - altitudes, as as the small object is not flying, the pilot would have a better view, along with the camera. Furthermore, there are ways to capture the object, eg - use a weighted net to cover the object, causing it to sink to the ground & the object would be intact for study.

As the use of drones will increase in the future, militaries around the World will have to find ways to observe first, than to shoot at sight & waste precious & expensive ammo stockpiles.

 

[saynotomsm]

Don't forget the cheebai cloud hovering over Turkey before the earthquakes.

Said to be HAARP clouds.

 

[gsbslut]

what of aliens.get.upset.that earth shoots it's flying ship and launch attack on earth?

 

[UltimaOnline]

what of aliens.get.upset.that earth shoots it's flying ship and launch attack on earth?

Exactly. With USA and China (and soon, other countries) suspecting each other of spying with these UFOs and get too trigger happy, sooner or later a genuine extraterrestrial ship gets caught in the crossfire and it'll trigger the ET anhilation of humanity. Even then, USA and China would blame each other for it.

 

[Willamshakespear]

To Mr. UtimaOnline.

Even Planet Earth's great scientists such as the genius of his scientific field - the late Stephen Hawkings, believed that we are not alone, & just by mathematical calculations, there are PROBABLY other forms of civilizations in the Universe, which even mainstream religion such as Christianity & Islam acknowledges. However, to achieve INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL, such beings would have to be at least TYPE 2 Civilization - far higher than the self serving Humans let alone NATION/SOCIETY common on our planet. as per the renown scientist Michio Kaku. Such civilizations are beyond greed, corruption, etc, & their purpose is to only expand knowledge of the greater Universe they live & survive in, having SUFFERED much & rose beyond such mortal trappings into such.

While there had been many physical manifestations of supposed 'extraterrestrial beings' having visited our planet, there is no DEFINATIVE proof that they had done so. Thus, bordering upon extrapolated science for an answer to your concerns,:-

Should they visit us, it will mostly be in probe forms - drones. As our own civilization had advanced physically & mentally, should such probes be destroyed by us, it is only a warning to them that such visitations are NOT invited. Better they show themselves, show their intentions & be the guest to our homeworld, instead of spying on us, as their form of civilization would dictate benevolence & intelligence for their ability for costly interstellar travel.

Furthermore, the closest habitable planets are at least 11 light years away - which means at least 22 yrs of research to finally reach those beings, & will be more, even thousands of lights years away for other civilizations. At the rate of our advances in science & tech, we may already had achieved the status they have as a type 2 civilization & will meet as EQUALS.

However, currently Humanity had not reached Type 2 Civilization status yet, & thus the strife & chaos in our selfish World, with MORE to be done to achieve it. The Human Earth born spying will only naturally continue, more so with drones. Such drones have to be lightweight to stay in the air longer, would carry little fuel or battery cells & may not even be armed to pose a threat. Thus rather than to shoot them down, it will be better to capture them for study, regardless if they are terrestrial or extraterrestrial, to further our knowledge & evolution.