In a statement, the Department of Defense said the “object” was shot down over concerns about its “potential surveillance capabilities”. The Pentagon, however, said it has yet to find out where it came from.
The military had downed the “object”, shaped like an octagon and flying at an altitude of 20,000ft over Lake Huron in Michigan, on Sunday afternoon by a missile launched from an F-16 fighter jet at the direction of president Joe Biden, based on the military’s recommendations.
“We are calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason,” US Air Force General Glen VanHerck told reporters.