The US military shot down a fourth unidentified object on Sunday and plans to retrieve it. Officials said there were no signs of collateral damage and the object sank into the lake.
“An F-16 fired an AIM9x successfully shot down an airborne object flying at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron, Michigan,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday. “Its route and altitude have raised concerns, including its potential hazard for civil aviation.”
Congressman Jack Bergman, Michigan, Confirmed on Sunday’s tweet He had been in contact with the Pentagon regarding operations in the Great Lakes region.
“Americans deserve far more answers than we have,” he wrote in a tweet.
American fighter jets shot down four high-altitude objects in airspace over the United States and Canada last week, and members of Congress have complained that they have not been briefed on the latest incident.
On February 4, US forces shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been flying across the country for several days. The White House said a second object flying about 40,000 feet over Alaska was shot down on Friday. to shoot down an “unidentified object” flying over the Yukon.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said he was informed Sunday of the presence of a fourth high-altitude object near Montana.
“I am waiting to receive visual confirmation,” he wrote in a tweet. “The safety of our country is my top priority.”
Authorities have yet to release many details about the objects shot down on Friday and Saturday, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner said he did not know what the two latest objects were, and said members of Congress had not received formal briefings about them from the Biden administration.
“This could be because they don’t have any information,” Turner told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. It seems that he took this action without really understanding what he was trying to do.”
He said more engagement was needed between the Biden administration and Congress, and last week’s events suggested the US needed to do a better job of aggressively defending US airspace. Said there was
Turner was critical of waiting days for the Biden administration to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, saying, “I hope they’re more than willing to pull the trigger rather than be patient. there is,” he said.
and statement saturday, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Canadian authorities are conducting a recovery operation to help both countries learn more about the nature of the object shot down in Canada.
Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand said at a press conference on Saturday that it was too early to tell whether the object came from China.
“From all indications, this object may resemble one shot off the coast of North Carolina, but smaller in size and cylindrical in nature,” Anand said.
On Friday, White House spokesman John Kirby hesitated to characterize the plane that crashed over Alaska as a balloon. Said he didn’t understand.
Connecticut Democratic Rep. Jim Hymes said members of Congress were given top-secret briefings about the Chinese spy balloon, but lawmakers weren’t given direct briefings about the second or third incidents. He said he doubted there was much information he could share yet because the object went down in a remote location.
“I’m really concerned as to why the administration hasn’t been more proactive about announcing everything it knows,” Hymes said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Himes said there is “a lot of garbage” in the air and it would not be difficult for countries, companies and even individuals with resources to send objects into the air.
“My guess as to why these things are happening in quick succession is that we’re really used to looking for them now,” he said.
He urged Americans not to assume there was an alien invasion or wrongdoing by another nation until more information was released. It could lead them into ‘disruptive territory’.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
