WASHINGTON (SONNA) \u2014 A U.S. military fighter jet shot down an unknown object flying off the remote northern coast of Alaska on Friday on orders from President Joe Biden, White House officials said.<\/p>\n
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the object was downed because it was flying at about 40,000 feet (13,000 meters) and posed a \u201creasonable threat\u201d to the safety of civilian flights, not because of any knowledge that it was engaged in surveillance. Asked about the object\u2019s downing, Biden on Friday said only that \u201cIt was a success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commercial airliners and private jets can fly as high as 45,000 feet (13,700 meters).<\/p>\n
Kirby described the object as roughly the size of a small car, much smaller than the massive suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by Air Force fighter jets Saturday off the coast of South Carolina after it transited over sensitive military sites across the continental U.S.<\/p>\n
The twin downings in such close succession are extraordinary, and reflect heightened concerns over China\u2019s surveillance program and public pressure on Biden to take a tough stand against it. Still, there were few answers about the unknown object downed Friday and the White House drew distinctions between the two episodes. Officials couldn\u2019t say if the latest object contained any surveillance equipment, where it came from or what purpose it had.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon on Friday declined to provide a more precise description of the object, only saying that U.S. pilots who flew up to observe it determined it didn\u2019t appear to be manned. Officials said the object was far smaller than last week\u2019s balloon, did not appear to be maneuverable and was traveling at a much lower altitude.<\/p>\n
Kirby maintained that Biden, based on the advice of the Pentagon, believed it posed enough of a concern to shoot it out of the sky \u2014 primarily because of the potential risk to civilian aircraft.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to remain vigilant about our airspace,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cThe president takes his obligations to protect our national security interests as paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president was briefed on the presence of the object Thursday evening after two fighter jets surveilled it.<\/p>\n
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Friday that an F-22 fighter aircraft based at Alaska\u2019s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson shot down the object using an AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile, the same type used to take down the balloon nearly a week ago.<\/p>\n
The object flew over one of the most desolate places on the nation. Few towns dot Alaska\u2019s North Slope, with the two apparently closest communities \u2014 Deadhorse and Kaktovik \u2014 combining for about 300 people. The Prudhoe Bay oil field on the North Slope is the largest such field in the United States.<\/p>\n
Unlike the suspected spy balloon, which was downed to live feeds and got U.S. residents looking up to the skies, it\u2019s likely few people saw this object given the blistering frigid conditions of northern Alaska this time of the year, since there are few people outside for a prolonged period of time.<\/p>\n
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