Kirby’s “tipper”: a diplomatic probe of the spy balloon that NORAD picked up in Alaska on January 28, 2014 and sent to the Pentagon

John Kirby, national security council counfer for strategic communications, said on Friday that a high-altitude object was tracked by the Pentagon in the last 24 hours.

The “tipper” sent by the DIA also goes out across government channels routinely, and although US officials have access to these reports, whether they read them or whether those reports are included in briefings to senior policymakers is a matter of discretion.

Instead of treating it as an immediate threat, the US moved to investigate the object, seeing it as an opportunity to observe and collect intelligence.

While the president has stood by how he and his administration handled that balloon, he has faced criticism from Republicans for allowing the suspected spy balloon to float over much of the country before shooting it down.

The NORAD sent fighter jets to identify the balloon when it entered US airspace near Alaska on January 28.

Once it was over US territory, officials have argued that the benefits of gathering additional intelligence on the balloon as it passed over far outweighed the risk of shooting it down over land.

Military officials said it was not surprising the president was not briefed until January 31 because of expectations for the balloon.

Congress is interested in more information about the decision-making process on the balloon.

A high-altitude object shot down by an F-22 fighter jet on Thursday afternoon a week after the shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off Alaska

There are still many unanswered questions about Alaska, according to a Senate Republican aide. Alaska is still part of the United States, but it isn’t the same as the continental US.

These officials say that an image that has gained legendary status in both the Pentagon and NORAD is that of a pilot taking selfies in the cockpit that shows both him and the balloon.

John Kirby said the military shot down a “high-altitude object” over Alaska within the last hour.

It marked the second time US jets had taken down an object in less than a week, following the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina last Saturday.

Kirby said that the object was flying at a dangerous altitude and posed a risk to flight safety.

There were two efforts to get closer to the object and evaluate it as it flew. Fighter aircraft fired on targets in the first two engagements that took place Friday morning and Thursday night. Kirby told reporters both engagements yielded a limited amount of information.

“We were able to get some fighter aircrafts up and around it before the order to shoot it down, and the pilots assessment was this was not manned,” Kirby added.

Ultimately, the object was downed near the Canadian border and northeastern Alaska by a F-22 fighter jet out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, equipped with an AIM-9X – the same aircraft and missile used to take down the surveillance balloon. The military waited to shoot it down during the day to make it easier to spot, according to a US official. Ryder said the mission was “supported with aerial assets from the Alaska Air National Guard.”

The Alaska Command worked with the Alaska Air National Guard, Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Deadhorse Object: A Hidden Object of a Security Force in the U.S., as Discovered by the Joint Task Force

“We’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have right now. We don’t know who owns it – whether it’s state-owned or corporate-owned or privately-owned, we just don’t know,” Kirby said.

The US government was made aware of the object last night. Biden was first briefed Thursday night “as soon as the Pentagon had enough information,” Kirby said.

It was less predictable because this thing did not appear to be self-maneuvering, and therefore at the mercy of prevailing winds. The president did not want to take that risk, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction Friday in the area around Deadhorse, Alaska, as the military took action against the object.

The Biden administration has faced questions about its handling of a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down after it floated across the nation last week.

On Thursday, officials revealed that they believe the spy balloons the US has discovered are part of a large fleet that is conducting surveillance operations globally. The US traced the balloons to 40 countries.

He said that the size of the plane and its ability to fly fast made it difficult for the pilots to get a lot of information.

An unknown object shot down 10 miles off the Alaskan coast on Friday afternoon: lessons learned from the story of China’s invasion of South Carolina

An unidentified object was shot down 10 miles off the frozen coast of Alaska on Friday afternoon, US officials announced, but details about the object are scarce.

It is not clear what the object is or where it came from. It was travelling north east across Alaska on Friday. He declined to provide a physical characterization, only saying that it was “about the size of a small car” and “not similar in size or shape” to the Chinese surveillance balloon that was downed off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.

The Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to pass through the continental US last week due to lack of concern about damage to people or property if it was shot down.

There has been no indication that the object seen is related to the Chinese balloon that was downed over the Atlantic Ocean last weekend.

Recovery teams are in the process of searching for and identifying debris on the ocean floor.

When asked Friday if lessons learned about China’s balloon assisted in detecting the object shot down over Alaska, Ryder said it was “a little bit of apples and oranges.”