“Threat to the Safety of Civilian Flight” – Pentagon Releases More Information on ‘High Altitude Object’ Shot Down Over Alaska (VIDEO)
The Pentagon on Friday released more information on the ‘high-altitude object’ shot down over Alaska.
National Security Council spokesman Adm. John Kirby fielded questions from reporters on Friday.
“The President absolutely was involved in this decision. He ordered it…We’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have rn. We do not know who owns it,” Kirby said.
Kirby told reporters that the ‘object’ was not manned.
“The knowledge about the balloon and the track first came to our attention last evening,” Kirby said.
Debris from the object will be recovered because it was shot down over water that is frozen near the Arctic Ocean.
Kirby said there was a reasonable threat to civilian flight.
“So to follow up on what you JUST said about civilian aircraft, is that what you meant initially when you said there was a reasonable threat to shoot it down?” CBS’s Weijia Jiang asked Kirby.
“Yes, my exact words were reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” Kirby said.
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Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder revealed more details about the military object shot down over Alaska.
He said the aircraft that took out the object was an F-22 flying out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson out of Alaska.
The fighter jet employed an AIM-9X to take down the object.
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