US shoots down another unidentified object: What are these & why are they being spotted more now?

The United States shot down another unidentified object, the third in the last one week, on Saturday (February 11), this timeover Canada.The ongoing saga of these high-altitude flying objects started with the spotting of a white-coloured Chinese balloon flying in US airspace. The US authorities tracked the suspected spy balloon for a couple of days and eventually shot it down as soon as it was deemed safe andrecovered the debris which is being analysed.

What makes the entire episode a big deal is thatthe US took unprecedented action to tackle the unidentified objectsafter considering safety threats and the president was fully involved in the operation.

A US State Department official said that the Chinese spy balloonhad equipment that was "clearly for intelligence surveillance". On condition of anonymity, the official told news agencies that the balloon had "multiple antennas" that were "likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications."

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However, China said it was a civilian "airship" which was used for research. Beijing also commented on the shooting down of the balloon, saying that it tested "US sincerity in improving and stabilising China-US relations and its way of handling crises".

On Saturday, the US shot down a "high-altitude object" which was flying over Alaska. The operation was carried out on the orders of US President Joe Biden.

What do we know about these balloons?

The US claims that the first Chinese balloon was meant more or less for "spying". Meanwhile, not much information has been shared by the US administration and Pentagon on the other two incidents.

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said that the object shot down on Saturday was cylindrical, but she avoided saying anything definitively about its likely origin and purpose. So far, two recently spotted objects remain a mystery and the world knows little about them.

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Anand said that the object shot down in the Yukon region was "small, cylindrical" and flying at an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet. It had unlawfully entered Canadian airspace and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flights.

The US Department of Defense said that theUS and Canadian planes flew together to take down the object on Saturday.

Why are these objects being spotted more than ever, especially by the US?

A recent report by The Washington Post claimed that China has used these balloons to spy on other countries, including India and. Japan. But the spotting of these objects and shooting down has become common just recently.

According to the report, the officials said that these surveillance balloons have been spotted over five continents and are being operated in part by the People's Liberation Army air force. But the source-based report hasn't been confirmed by the government.

But why haven't other countries reported it? Does the US have specialised technology to spot such objects?

A source-based report by CNN claimed that the US has developed a method within the last one year to track China's spy balloon fleet. The report claimed that such incidents happened in the past also, but wentundetected.

One such incident happened after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, and after that, the intelligence community "ran some of the balloon's signals through the American intelligence holdings and other data".

Watch this report:

What is NORAD?

Pentagon Spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement that Biden had authorised US fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) to work with Canada to take down a high-altitude airborne object over northern Canada.

NORAD is a combined organisation of the US and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty and protection for both nations.

The Chinese balloon saga has led to a diplomatic flare-up between the two superpowers, and misinformation may escalate the situation further.

So far, there's no official statement that can provide the exact origin of two unidentified objects. Authorities are looking for the debris, but the Northern Command said in a statement that the search and recovery operations for the remains of that object continued Saturday but were hindered by the Arctic "wind chill, snow, and limited daylight".

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