The first missile fired by an American F-16 fighter jet in an attempt to take down an unidentified flying object over Lake Huron missed its target.
US officials confirmed on 14 February that the object - the third spotted above North American airspace in as many days - was taken down with a second shot when it appeared above the lake on 12 February. The first shot landed in the waters straddling the state of Michigan and the Ontario province of Canada.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed the incident in separate briefings with reporters.
On 12 February, US officials confirmed that an object flying roughly 20,000 feet above Lake Huron was fired out of the sky by an F-16 fighter jet, following recommendations from military officials and an order from President Joe President Biden.
At 2.24pm ET, the F-16 fired a Sidewinder missile to strike it down.
North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, and the Federal Aviation Administration briefly closed airspace over northern Montana to support “Department of Defense operations” late on 11 February, responding to what was initially a “radar anomaly” but is now believed to have been the object that appeared above the Lake.
Based on its flight path and data, the Pentagon announced that it can “reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana,” according to a statement from the US Department of Defense.
An “octagonal”-shaped object above Lake Huron was the third object in three days brought down by US military planes, after an F-22 shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February after military and intelligence officiaus closely observed it cruising above US airspace that week.
An F-22 Raptor shot down what has been described as a “small car-sized” object on 11 February at about 40,000 feet above Alaskan airspace. The following day, an F-22 shot down a “small” and “cylindrical” object also hovering 40,000 feet above Canada. One day later, US officials announced a third “object” was shot out of the sky above Lake Huron.
Following the appearance of the Chinese surveillance balloon and claims of a broader Chinese surveillance operation, the US military has widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, according to administration officials.
White House and military officials have not speculated publicly on the origins of the “objects” and have not confirmed whether or not they are also from China as investigators recover and review debris from the shot-down aircrafts.
