U.S. Military Shoots Down Yet Another Unidentified Flying Object, Says It Probably Isn't Aliens

Photo: Chris Hyde / Stringer (Getty Images)

The U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object over the weekend, this time over Lake Huron. But unlike the Chinese spy balloon that was recently shot down, we don’t actually know what it was or how it stays in the air. So that’s a little scary.

NBC reports that military leaders said Sunday that the objects that have been shot down don’t appear to be balloons, but they’re also not sure what they are exactly. “I’m not going to categorize them as balloons,” said Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. “We’re calling them objects for a reason. I’m not able to categorize how they stay aloft.”

But if you’re thinking these unidentified flying objects are aliens, don’t worry. It’s probably not aliens. At least according to another defense official who said there was “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.” When General VanHerck was asked a similar question, he said. “I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out.” So at least we’ve got that.

The object shot down over Lake Huron is the fourth mysterious object that’s been shot down in North American airspace in the last two weeks. It was described as “an octagonal structure with strings hanging off but no discernible payload.” And unlike the spy balloon, the last three objects have all reportedly been similar in size and shape. But it’s hard to get a good look at them because while they move slowly, the fighter jets sent to shoot them down move fast.

“The spy balloon from the PRC was of course different in that we know precisely what it was,” said Melissa Dalton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs.

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The latest object was reportedly first detected over Montana, but fighters sent to investigate weren’t able to find it at that time. But the military was able to track it as it drifted further into the country, eventually shooting it down at approximately 2:42 PM at a height of about 20,000 feet. “The all-clear was given to engage the target and ultimately it was taken down about 15 nautical miles east of the Upper Peninsula in Lake Huron,” said General VanHerck.

President Biden reportedly gave the order to shoot it down based on recommendations from military leadership at least in part because the object posed a threat to civilian aircraft. It could have had some surveillance capability, but at the time, it wasn’t judged to be a military threat. But hey, at least it’s probably not aliens.