Washington: The US has shot down another high-altitude object over Alaska, less than a week after a Chinese spy balloon was downed off America’s east coast.

The object was shot down in the past hour under President Joe Biden’s orders after the Pentagon determined it posed “a reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast from Surfside Beach, South Carolina.Credit:Reuters

White House spokesman John Kirby said the Department of Defence had been tracking the unidentified object over the past day. It had been flying at 40,000 feet and was taken down “out of an abundance of caution,” he said.

The US is now recovering the object, which is the size of a small car. However, it is not yet known who it belongs to, or what its purpose is.

“We have no plans to reach out to the Chinese specifically on this I want to stress again, we don’t know what entity owns this object,” Kirby said. “There’s no indication that it’s from a nation or an institution or an individual. We just don’t know.”

The development comes after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday. Officials are still recovering debris from that object, shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

More to come.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.

Most Viewed in World

Source: Read Full Article