In Today’s News: A US fighter jet shot down, this Friday (10), an unidentified object in the skies above Alaska, although both its purpose and origin are unknown. . “The [U.S.] President ordered military forces to shoot down the object,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. He said the incident happened around 19:30 GMT (16:30 GMT).

An American fighter shot down, this Friday (10), an unidentified object over Alaska, although both its purpose and its origin are unknown.

“The [US] president has ordered military forces to shoot down the object,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. The incident took place, he said, around 19:30 GMT (16:30 GMT).

The object was much smaller than the large Chinese balloon that crossed the United States last week and was shot down on Saturday by a fighter jet off the Atlantic coast, explained Kirby.

It was “about the size of a small car” and was flying at about 40,000 feet (about 12,000 meters), he said. It was shot down in northern Alaska, close to the Canadian border, and fell into icy water, which will facilitate its recovery.

“We hope to recover the remains, since they fell not only in our territorial space but also in what we believe to be frozen water”, he said. Biden had it shot down because it could be “a reasonable threat” to aviation.

Kirby clarified, however, that nothing is known about the object yet. “We don’t know who it belongs to, whether it’s a state or a company,” he said. “We don’t understand the purpose,” he added.

The US Army sent a plane to observe the object before it was shot down and “the pilot’s assessment was that it was unmanned,” he said.