Another object shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan

the third in three days and fourth since downing a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina Feb. 4.

Sunday’s shoot down occurred hours after airspace had been temporarily closed over Lake Michigan by the Federal Aviation Administration and NORAD. Fighter jets had scrambled to investigate a radar finding there but did not find an object, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment.

An F-16 shot down the object at 2:42 p.m. ET Sunday at the direction of President Joe Biden, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. The pilot fired an AIM 9X sidewinder missile, the same weapon used in the previous instances.

Discovery of unidentified unmanned aircraft sparks new concerns over US-China relations

“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” Ryder also said, indicating the possibility that it is another spy balloon.

It’s possible that the increased number of sightings of unidentified objects is due to closer scrutiny of airspace after the Chinese spy balloon was shot down Feb. 4, Melisssa Dalton, assistant secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, told reporters Sunday night. The last three objects shot down may also have been civilian aircraft engaged in research, she said, but the aircraft need to be recovered and analyzed to determine their origin and function.

objects downed in Alaska on Friday and Canada on Saturday.

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Fighter pilots observe the object and confer with headquarters before taking a shot, said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“There is never a ‘shoot-on-sight’ mentality except if there is an ongoing hostile act occurring,” Deptula said. “The intercepting aircraft will relay observed information, that will be digested, evaluated and then a decision made based on the situation.”

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