The U.S. military on Friday shot down an unknown high-altitude object off the coast of Alaska on the order of President Joe Biden, the White House said, citing a threat to the safety of civilian flights.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the object, first detected Thursday night, was much smaller than a Chinese surveillance balloon that recently flew over the United States and was taken down by the military off the coast of North Carolina on Saturday.
Kirby described the object as "roughly the size of a small car," and said it was brought down by a fighter jet near the U.S.-Canada border after the pilots were able to determine that it was unmanned.
He said the object will be recovered from U.S. territorial waters there, which are now frozen.
"We're calling this an object, because that's the best description we have. We do not know who owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned," he said. "We don't understand the full purpose."
Speaking separately, Pat Ryder, the Defense Department's press secretary, also said the object's origins remained unknown, adding it was shot down at around 1:45 p.m. after flying at an altitude of about 12 kilometers.
Ryder said there was no indication at this time that the object was maneuverable. "We are still assessing what this object was," he said in a press briefing.
Asked why the latest shooting down occurred much more quickly than the previous one, Ryder explained that the object was hovering at an altitude that posed a "reasonable threat to civilian air traffic."
In contrast, U.S. officials have said that the Chinese balloon was traveling at an altitude of nearly 20 km, well above commercial air traffic.
The latest development came a little less than a week after the military brought down the large balloon after it crossed the continental United States, an episode that has renewed tensions with China and prompted U.S. legislators to pressure Biden for action against the threat posed by Beijing.
The Chinese balloon, estimated to have been the size of three buses, was equipped with multiple antennas and solar panels, according to the U.S. officials.
They have said it was independently maneuverable and capable of carrying out signals intelligence collection operations.
A senior U.S. State Department official said Thursday the Chinese maker of the balloon has a "direct relationship" with the People's Liberation Army.
But China has maintained the balloon was being used for civilian weather research purposes and that it was accidentally blown off course by strong winds.
A day after the senior official said the United States would consider taking action against the manufacturer, the Biden administration added six Chinese entities linked to Beijing's alleged spy balloon program to an export blacklist.
The Commerce Department said the decision was made as the six have supported China's efforts to modernize aerospace programs, especially those related to airships and balloons that are used by its military for intelligence and reconnaissance.
The entities, including Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology Co. and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute, will be restricted from obtaining U.S. items and technologies without U.S. government authorization.
"Today's action makes clear that entities that seek to harm U.S. national security and sovereignty will be cut off from accessing U.S. technologies," Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez was quoted by the department as saying.
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