A U.S. F-22 warplane was deployed on Friday to bring down an enigmatic flying object soaring above Alaska. According to U.S. authorities, the mysterious craft was terminated by a Sidewinder missile and was roughly the size of a compact car.
Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the chief spokesman for the Pentagon, disclosed that the ownership of the object remains unknown. White House spokesperson John Kirby added that the origin of the flight is still a mystery.
President Joe Biden gave the order to bring down the object, which was announced from the White House.
In a similar incident, another U.S. F-22 fighter aircraft brought down a Chinese surveillance balloon on February 4th that had traveled across the United States and portions of Canada. However, the Chinese government claimed it was a civilian research vessel.
The U.S. military’s decision to wait until the balloon was over the ocean before shooting it down, out of concern for falling debris, was criticized by some lawmakers. The president was criticized for not shooting it down sooner.
The Pentagon and the White House have refrained from giving a comprehensive description of the object, merely mentioning that it was far smaller than the Chinese balloon.
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