Officials from the US confirm that an octagonal object was shot down by military aircraft over Lake Huron.
The FAA closed the airspace over parts of Lake Michigan Sunday for Department of Defense activity.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Another high-altitude object was shot down Sunday, February 12th, this time over Lake Huron, three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News. A U.S. military aircraft shot down the object, signaling another in a string of such incidents.
The Pentagon confirmed the capture, saying that they have been keeping a closer watch on American airspace since the discovery of the Chinese spy balloon earlier this month and that they “will remain vigilant.”
At 2:45 p.m., the U.S. Air Force fired a sidewinder missile at objects that were unidentified by officials from the Pentagon, according to reports.
NAADC released a statement saying that their concern with the path and altitude of this shoot-down is why they were able to avoid impact with people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery. There are no indications at this time that any civilians were harmed or affected in any way.
A senior administration official told ABC News that President Biden directed the shooting down of Sunday’s object “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of military leaders.”
President Biden wanted to take precautionary measures in order to protect the security and interests of the United States, according to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs Melissa Dalton.
According to officials, an object was shot down over Lake Huron on Saturday. It was detected on radar in Montana.
Fighter jets were launched to investigate, and they saw nothing. The restriction was then lifted.
Based on its flight path and data, we can connect this object to the radar signal that was picked up over Montana. The Pentagon has confirmed this as well.
The senior administration official said that NORTHCOM/NORAD detected a radar contact in Montana Saturday, and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. However, because the contact didn’t correspond with any known objects, officials decided it could be an anomaly and continued monitoring the situation.
On Sunday, NORAD/NORTHCOM re-acquired the radar contact and detected an unidentified flying object (UFO) from Montana over Wisconsin and Michigan. The UFO was located just north of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at around 20,000 feet and about to pass over Lake Huron.
The Lake Huron object was an odd-looking structure with dangling strings. Officials said that there’s no indication of any spying capabilities, but they can’t rule it out.
The debris landed in Canadian waters, where both Canadian and U.S. crews are working to recover it according to the Pentagon.
A temporary flight restriction was in place over parts of Lake Michigan earlier on Sunday due to national defense reasons, reports from the Federal Aviation Administration stated.
The FAA issued a notice warning the public that parts of the area may be restricted due to national defense airspace concerns. NADAAC said restrictions went into effect at around 11AM.
The Federal Aviation Administration briefly closed some airspace over Lake Michigan to support Department of Defense activities. The airspace has since reopened.
On February 12, 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration and North American Aerospace Defense Command jointly implemented a temporary flight restriction over Lake Michigan. This was done to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations. The temporary flight restriction has since been lifted.
Norad did not immediately reply to inquiries about the nature of those operations.
This marks the 3rd day in a row that an unidentified thing was screened down over North American airspace. An unidentified thing was screened down over northern Canada on Sat. On Fri, an unidentified thing was screened down in Alaska airspace by a US F-22.
There was a temporary flight restriction put in place Sat. night over Montana, according to NORAD. The temporary restriction was issued afterward NORAD detected a radar glitch. Aircraft were sent to enquire the incident but didn’t seen nothing.
It additionally follows endure weekend when a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was taken down by F-22s off the coast of South Carolina.