Three unidentified flying objects were spotted over North American airspace over the weekend, more than a week after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered flying over the United States.
The three incidents occurred throughout different parts of the continent, and little detail is known about the flying objects. Here is a timeline of how the incidents unfolded.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE UPTICK IN MYSTERY OBJECTS BEING SHOT DOWN FROM US AIRSPACE
Friday, Feb. 10
A high-altitude object was detected by the U.S. military over the coast of northern Alaska on Thursday and was promptly shot down by officials on Friday.
"I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a White House briefing Friday. "The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight. Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did, and it came inside our territorial waters."
Saturday, Feb. 11
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Saturday that another unidentified object was spotted flying over the territory of Yukon. Trudeau confirmed the object was shot down after Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint organization between the U.S. and Canadian governments, later implemented a temporary flight restriction over central Montana after detecting a "radar anomaly." The restrictions were dropped, and no further action was taken in the area.
"NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation," NORAD and U.S. Northern Command said in a statement Saturday.
Sunday, Feb. 12
A day after temporarily closing some airspace in Montana, NORAD temporarily closed the airspace over Lake Huron in Michigan after detecting an "airborne object flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude." President Joe Biden ordered the object be shot down Sunday afternoon due to "its path and altitude" raising "concerns" as a possible "hazard to civil aviation," per the Department of Defense.
"Based on its flight path and data, we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites. We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground but assessed it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities. Our team will now work to recover the object in an effort to learn more," a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The increased detection of flying objects likely stems from officials using a higher sensitivity after the Chinese spy balloon incident. The Pentagon is now searching for smaller and slower objects in U.S. airspace.
Officials have not given much information on the three shot-down objects other than saying they have worked to retrieve several of them and analyze what they are.