Recovery efforts utilizing military planes and helicopters in the far northeast arctic region of Alaska continue, where on Friday an unidentified object was shot down by F-22 jets.

Still, little definitive is known, including who owns the object or where it came from; however, in media and US official reports the 'high-altitude' object is increasingly being referenced as a another balloon.

Biden called the operation a "success" - and yet didn't engage reporters' questions directly when asked about follow-up details. 

What has become clear is that Biden gave the order to shoot it down before knowing who owned it or where it came from, or whether it was state-owned or perhaps owned by a corporation. And of course the question remains: was this another Chinese spy balloon? Or was it a weather research balloon just downed over Alaska?

According to details from White House and Pentagon briefings on Friday, including descriptions from senior officials, here's what's known at this point:

In the meantime the media is only hyping the rampant online speculation into overdrive...

In the end, there may be a very simple explanation, such as an arctic weather balloon - which aren't uncommon among researchers and climate scientists in far northern regions.