The US military shot down another flying object on Sunday over Lake Huron in Michigan, Canada’s defense minister announced.
Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said the object was engaged by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the command responsible for the defense of US and Canadian airspace.
“Today, a high-altitude object was detected in US airspace over Lake Huron. NORAD launched Canadian and US aircraft to investigate, and the object was taken down in US airspace by US aircraft,” Anand said.
The Pentagon said a US F-16 fighter jet shot down the object, which was described as “octagonal.” The Pentagon said it did not assess the object “to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities.”
The incident marked the third time the US shot down an unidentified object since the downing of a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. On Friday, President Biden ordered the Pentagon to shoot down an unidentified object over waters near Alaska. The following day, a US fighter jet shot down another object over Canada.
It’s not clear what kind of objects were shot down since the Chinese balloon, which the US claimed was a surveillance device and China insisted was a weather balloon used for civilian purposes. The White House said that the objects shot down on Friday and Saturday did not look similar to the Chinese balloon.
“These objects did not closely resemble and were much smaller than the PRC balloon and we will not definitively characterize them until we can recover the debris, which we are working on,” a National Security Council spokesperson told Reuters.
While the Pentagon just started shooting down these objects, a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released in January said unidentified flying objects were frequently reported to the US military in recent years.
According to The New York Times, the report examines 366 incidents either observed or submitted since the last report on unexplained phenomenon was released in June 2021. Of the 366 incidents, 163 were found to be balloons, 26 were drones, and six more were airborne clutter or birds. The other 171 incidents have not yet been attributed.
The panic that ensued due to the Chinese balloon and the pressure President Biden came under for not shooting it down right away seems to be the trigger for the US military to start shooting down frequently spotted UFOs. The panic is also being used by members of Congress to justify a more hawkish posture toward Beijing.
A growing number of Republicans are arguing that the balloon incident shows military spending cuts should be taken off the table in House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) debt ceiling negotiations with the Biden administration. The US also used the balloon incident to increase sanctions on China, blacklisting six Chinese companies allegedly linked to Chinese surveillance balloons.
Amid the panic in the US, China said it spotted a UFO over waters near the northern port city of Qingdao. Local authorities in China said they were ready to shoot the object down, but so far, there’s been no sign that it was downed.
They don’t even know what they’re shooting at, but first let’s throw that $800,000 missile at it and ask questions later. Because that’s apparently the policy now.
On the Times website, I found a gem of a comment volunteering to “vet balloon watchers.” How quick we descend into hysteria and madness….
shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target
F22 should get a new name. It should no longer be called be raptor but balloon killer
The F22 “Tiny Prick”.
from MoA link:
“Multiple F-35s shot down in 3-hour dogfight with Chinese balloon
Air Force said to be ‘encouraged’ by outcome”
What I know is that these mysterious flying objects in remote area’s did not pose a threat while it did cost an awful lot to down each one. [The cost to pop a Chinese weather balloon with a side winder missile is waste of $400K]
It’s all about the illusion – First they shoot it down then they come up with the most outrageous stories in order to justify their decades long propaganda campaigns.
Why don’t we talk about the lies that the US tells the world before committing another war crime.
“Why don’t we talk about the lies that the US tells the world before committing another war crime.(?)” Answer to your question, we don’t have time. Can’t you see we’re too busy starting another war? (Sarcasm alert)
Yes, …well, … we can always rely on the Ministry of Truth & Kareen Jean-Pierre ….
Aha! When reason cannot support budgetary boodoggelism, balloon the bastards for bucks.
Its a bird! Its a plane! No its superman! No, no its stupidty!!!!
Yes, but we have the Best Stupidity! USA! USA!
Too bad is sooooo expensive…
“A growing number of Republicans are arguing that the balloon incident shows military spending cuts should be taken off the table”
Indeed! We need an upgrade on defending balloons. Next thing you know they’ll be running them into our buildings.
The Stupid is very strong in these people.
“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time.” -Einstein
Things like this new balloon menace are why I’ve given up wondering what’s next.
Things like this new balloon menace are why I’m increasingly convinced I live in a simulation and the programmers are just fvcking with me. Nothing this stupid would happen if it was real.
It’s a comforting thought. Actually, it would make a good movie.
Perfectly stated. Made me laugh 😃
I’m still waiting for president “Two Girls , One Cup” to be elected in 2024.
They use to be so talented with misdirections. Now they just don’t put any effort into it.
Red noses and clown wigs so every citizen can prove we have no dignity and have no independent thoughts outside what we are told to believe.
Then newspapers full of invectives about those suspicious non-clowns and their obvious nefarious intent. If they don’t hate America, why won’t they prove it by dressing up in patriotism wigs?
Then the government blocking all speech from non-clowns, which is fine because they are just ordering private businesses to silence their critics, which is just accountability for terrifying all good Americans by refusing to dress up like clowns; and therefore declaring allegiance to all the racists and insurrectionists who are saying non-clowns disenfranchisement is wrong.
Why they haven’t…?! Is it because they were extraterrestrial…?!
Time to build new military bases on Moon and Mars…!?
Up, up in the air, our new balloon, our new balloon, comes soon!
I thought the clown show starts next year. My bad.
Just cleaning up those weather/climate change/glibal warming baloons and probes. Many of them do not get high enough to self destroy, and just linger. Politics being what it is — it is mighty convenient to drum up fesrmongering to see who can scream louder to get more money for military.
The shear stupidity of the collective response is unbelievable. On top of those pesky Russians in Ukraine, now North America has another enemy to contend with from the east, China.
The threat of China’s ongoing aerial invasion of both Canada and the USA has warranted the use of NORAD for the first time since its inception.
Media sources are happy to report that 4 targets have been dispatched without loss of military/civilian life and property.
It’s been rumored that the F-22 Raptors did a great job sneaking up on the unmanned targets and destroying them with $600K Sidewinder Air to Air missiles.
Excellent appropriation of military hardware!
😉
Roswell, people.
Roswell.
I keep waiting for things to get too ridiculous.
In a way, I envy them.
https://iz.ru/1469412/2023-02-13/stoltenberg-nazval-neopoznannye-shary-nad-ssha-aktivizatciei-razvedok-rf-i-knr
“Stoltenberg called unidentified balloons over the United States the activation of intelligence of the Russian Federation and China”
If you believe this story, then you’ll believe two Russian boomers are now 100 miles due east of Washington, D.C.
People have forgotten that we bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during our attack on Yugoslavia in 1999. Three Chinese journalists were killed and 20 chinese nationals injured in the attack.
Our reaction to a silly balloon even if it was a spy balloon is totally out of proportion.
Does anyone else feel this site we post on should be renamed prowar.com?
Reminds me of a science fiction story I read years ago (sorry, don’t remember the title or who wrote it). A passing UFO drops off a mysterious object along with a very brief message (in an alien language obviously). Naturally the object falls in America, and soon it’s surrounded by guns, tanks, bombs etc. Eventually of course it’s declared a threat and the military blows it up. Just then word arrives that they’ve translated the alien message. “Please take good care of my little girl.”
And that reminded me of “One Tin Soldier:
Listen children to a story
That was written long ago
‘Bout a kingdom, on a mountain
And the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They’d have it for their very own
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after who
One tin soldier rides away
So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they’d kill
Came an answer from the kingdom
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
N’ all the riches buried there
Now the valley cried in anger
Mount your horses
Draw your sword
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turn the stone and which beneath it
“Peace on Earth”
Was all it said
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after who
One tin soldier rides away
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
It’s a diversion. Pay attention to this UFO bullshit, pay no attention to the steady advance to WWIII.
Hey, that one over Lake Huron was pretty close to home. The f*cking guvvmint potentially deprived me of a close encounter of the third kind! 🤬
Shoot first, ask questions later. The dumbasses didn’t even know what they destroyed!