Key Points
- Four flying objects have been shot down over North America in a little over a week.
- The first was a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was taken down off the coast of South Carolina.
- It's not yet known exactly what the other three objects are, or where they originated.
It started with a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina after spending a week floating across the United States and parts of Canada.
Now, another three flying objects have been downed by US fighter jets in as many days after entering North American airspace.
What do we know about them?
Object two: shot down over Alaska
The White House announced on Friday that , this time off northeast Alaska.
The unidentified object was described by US officials as being "roughly the size of a small car" - much smaller than , which was as large as two or three buses.
They said the discovery of the new object first came to the attention of US authorities on Thursday night.
The unidentified object that was shot down off northeast Alaska was around the size of a small car. Source: SBS News
He said that unlike the Chinese balloon, the second object did not appear to be manoeuvrable and was at the mercy of the wind.
"We do not know who owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned. We just don't know … And we don't understand the full purpose."
Object three: shot down over Canada
On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Twitter that he'd ordered the takedown of .
He said the object was downed over Yukon in Canada's north when a US fighter jet from North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) successfully fired at it.
Canadian authorities have declined to speculate about the origin of the object, but said was cylindrical in shape.
The object was "potentially similar" in appearance to the Chinese balloon, Canada's defence minister said, but much smaller.
Object four: shot down near US-Canadian border
On US President Joe Biden's orders, a fourth object was on Sunday shot down over Lake Huron near the border with Canada.
The object appeared to be octagonal in structure, with strings hanging off but no discernible payload, according to a US official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon said while the fourth object didn’t pose a military threat, it could have potentially interfered with domestic air traffic as it was travelling at 20,000 feet, and it might have had surveillance capabilities.
It said the object is believed to be the same as one recently detected over Montana near sensitive military sites, prompting the closure of US airspace.
Could they also be spy balloons?
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said US officials believed the objects that were shot down over Alaska and Canada were also spy balloons, albeit much smaller than the original one.
But that hasn't been publicly confirmed by the White House.
On Monday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the United States does not know if the unidentified objects were spying.
"We don't know for sure whether they had a surveillance aspect to them, but we can't rule it out," he said.
Earlier, a White House spokesperson said the objects would not be characterised until the debris could be recovered.
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The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon floated across the US and parts of Canada before it was shot down. Credit: Larry Mayer/AP
"We're calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason," he said.
'No indication of aliens'
The White House also said there is no sign of alien activity related to the unidentified objects, after a top US officer declined to rule it out.
"There is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns, (I) wanted to make sure that the American people knew that," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told journalists.
The day before, General Glen VanHerck, the head of the US Northern Command, was asked during a briefing if aliens or extraterrestrials had been ruled out.
"I haven't ruled out anything. At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threats unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it," he said.
Why are so many objects being shot down?
Senator Schumer said while suspected surveillance balloons had been in operation for years, US authorities only recently found out about them.
"The bottom line is until a few months ago we didn’t know about these balloons," he told US broadcaster ABC on Sunday.
"Now they are learning a lot more. And the military and the intelligence are focused like a laser on first gathering and accumulating the information, then coming up with a comprehensive analysis."
A senior Defense official revealed earlier this month that Chinese spy balloons briefly flew over the US "at least three times" while Donald Trump was in office, and once at the beginning of Mr Biden's presidency. There were undetected at the time.
The Pentagon said since the arrival of the latest Chinese balloon, they had been scrutinising the radar more closely, leading to the detection of more airborne objects.
Could something similar happen in Australia?
Defence Minister Richard Marles said last week that no evidence had been found of Chinese spy balloons flying over Australia.
When questioned at a Senate Estimates hearing on Monday, ASIO chief Mike Burgess said he also wasn't aware of any similar objects entering Australian airspace.
"In my experience, that's not the principal means which by people are spying on this country," he said.
With Reuters
