US shoots down 'high-altitude object', Biden calls it 'success', Justin Trudeau supports decision

United States President Joe Biden told CNN that the shooting down of the unidentified object which was flying over Alaska on Friday (February 10) "was a success".The order to take down the object, which was first detected on Thursday, was given to the US military by the commander-in-chief, the national security officials revealed.

In a media interaction on Friday, the White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the object was taken down because it was a threat to civil aviation.

Kirby said that the purpose and origin of the object were not known, but he mentioned that the “president ordered the militaryto down the object,which was floating at 40,000 feet.”

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This comes after the recent hotly-debated spy balloon saga. A huge white-coloured Chinese balloon was shot down by American jets last weekend.

US State Department official said on Thursday that the so-called spy balloon had equipment that was "clearly for intelligence surveillance," including "multiple antennas" that were "likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications."

The Chinese balloon in the US airspace escalated the tensions between the US and China, but Beijing said that it was a civilian "airship" which was used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.

Meanwhile, giving details about the object, Kirby said that it was much smaller than the huge Chinese balloon that had crossed the US last week and was shot down.

It was "roughly the size of a small car," he said, adding that "we do not know who owns it, whether it was state-owned or corporate-owned".

F-22 fighter jet shot it down

The US sent F-35s fighter jets to probe the object on Thursday. They also attempted to get details about the object but as per Kirby, the jets got "limited" information.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters that the object was travelling in a northeasterly direction when it was shot down.

Ryder further said that an F-22 fighter jet from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska took down the object "at 1:45 p.m. eastern standard time today, within US sovereign airspace over US territorial water".

Trudeau supports decision

Reacting to the US military's action, Justin Trudeau, theprime minister of neighbouring Canadasaid on Friday that he supported the decision.

Trudeau tweeted: "This afternoon, an object that violated American airspace was brought down. I was briefed on the matter and supported the decision to take action. Our military and intelligence services will always work together, including through @NORADCommand, to keep people safe."

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