A Pentagon memo offered the first details about the latest unidentified object shot down in or near US airspace over the past eight days. The memo reported the unidentified flying object was a “small, metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it.” The White House and NORAD officials had previously described the aircraft as a “cylindrical object.”
The Pentagon memo, obtained by CNN, also reported that the object had crossed near “US sensitive sites” before the US military shot it down on Sunday.
Officials also reported the object was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan and “subsequently slowly descended” into the water.
The latest shootdown comes after three more unidentified objects entered US airspace as NORAD heightened security following a suspected Chinese balloon was downed on February 4.
Joe Biden has come under pressure because of the repeated shutdowns after he previously delayed giving the order to hit the suspected Chinese balloon last week.
But lawmakers insisted the increase in UFO spotting in US airspace was a consequence of increased security following the accident.
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Rep Jim Himes, the leading Democrat in the Intelligence Committee, told Meet the Press on Sunday: “My speculative guess as why we’re seeing these things happen in quick succession is now we’re really attuned to looking for them, right?
“The truth is that most of our sensors and most of what we were looking for didn’t look like balloons. Now, of course, we’re looking for them. So, I think we’re probably finding more stuff.”
National Security Council coordinator for communications John Kirbyn on Monday insisted the military response was not a political move to shut down Biden’s detractors.
Kirby said: “These were decisions based purely and simply on what was in the best interest of the American people.”
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