NOW PLAYING

New details released on shape of high-altitude object shot down near Lake Huron
CNN
Advertisement

The Biden Presidency Facts First 2022 Midterms Audio Log In

Live Live
Super Bowl LVII Turkey-Syria quake

L I V E U P DAT E S

Object shot down near Lake

Huron
By Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood, CNN

Updated 8:21 p.m. ET, February 12, 2023

New details released on shape of high-altitude object shot
down near Lake Huron 02:59

14 Posts SORT BY Latest

What we're covering here

21 min ago
▪ Another unidentified object was shot
down over the Great Lakes region Sunday NORAD commander says military has still not
at the direction of President Joe Biden, a recovered Alaska object
US oMcial told CNN. From CNN's Gregory Clary

▪ The object was shaped like an octagon

The US military has not recovered the object shot down over Alaska on Friday, Gen. Glen
with strings hanging oQ it and did not
VanHerck, the commander of the US Northern Command and North American
appear to be carrying anything. It was
Aerospace Defense Command, told reporters Sunday.
shot down by US F-16 fighter jets on
Sunday and was flying at 20,000 feet over
“We're actively searching for that object right now. I've got a Navy P-8, which is
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was about
surveilling the area, with helicopters as well. Once we locate that object, we'll put an
to go over Lake Huron when it was
Arctic security package in there and begin the analysis and recovery, but we don't
neutralized.
have it right now," VanHerck said.
▪ The operation marks the third day in a
row that an unidentified object was shot
A US F-22 fighter jet shot down a "high-altitude object" over frozen Arctic Ocean waters
down over North American airspace. An
near the Canadian border, about 10 miles oQ the north coast of Alaska.
unidentified object was shot down over
northern Canada on Saturday. On Friday,
an unidentified object was shot down in
Alaska airspace by a US F-22. Last
weekend, a suspected Chinese
surveillance balloon was taken down by F- 4 min ago
22s oQ the coast of South Carolina.
NORAD: Country of origin, shape or mechanics of
three latest objects downed can't be confirmed
From CNN's Aaron Pellish

Ad FIT

Apresentamos o Novo
Jersey FIT. Agora em
todas as lojas. Shop
Online
Agora em todas as lojas. Shop
Online: Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command,
attends a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, DC, on March 1, 2022. (Win
McNamee/Getty Images)

Abrir

The US military does not have new information on the country of origin or the physical or
Advertisement
mechanical properties of the three objects downed over North America in the past three
days, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of the US Northern Command and North
American Aerospace Defense Command, told reporters Sunday. 

“I'm not going to categorize them as balloons. We're calling them objects for a
reason,” VanHerck said when asked about the physical characteristics of the objects. 

“I'm not able to categorize how they stay aloft. It could be a gaseous type of balloon
inside a structure or it could be some type of a propulsion system. But clearly, they're --
they're able to stay aloft,” he added. 

VanHerck stressed that oMcials do not know the country of origin of the objects downed
in recent days, distinguishing it from the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that the
US military shot down oQ the coast of South Carolina last week.

“I would be hesitant and urge you not to attribute it to any specific country. We don't
know,” VanHerck said.

26 min ago

Object spotted in Montana likely same object shot

CNN Underscored down over Lake Huron, military official says
From CNN's Haley Britzky
10 Best men’s running shoes
according to experts Military oMcials believe the object shot down over Lake Huron on Sunday is likely the
same object that was spotted over Montana on Saturday, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the
commander of the US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense
Command (NORAD), said on Sunday.

VanHerck told reporters that the object shot down Sunday was first spotted around 4:45
We tested Anastasia Beverly ET on Saturday afternoon. He scrambled F-15 fighters and a KC-135 tanker to go
Hills’s best brow products —
here are our top 5 favorites investigate, and the object crossed into US airspace a few hours later, he said.

“It's likely, but we have not confirmed, that the track that we saw in Wisconsin was
likely the same track in Montana,” VanHerck said.

“We monitored the track of interest as it passed over Lake Michigan. We assessed that it
Ad FIT was no threat, physical threat, military threat … to critical infrastructure. That's my
assessment and continues to be today,” he added.

The object was shot down on Sunday, and recovery eQorts with the US Coast Guard are
ongoing, VenHerck said.

47 min ago

Objects shot down posed no kinetic military threat,

Pentagon says
From CNN's Haley Britzky
Apresentamos o Novo
Jersey FIT. Agora em The recent “objects” shot down in North American airspace since Friday were taken
todas as lojas. Shop down out of an “abundance of caution,” Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of
Online Defense for homeland defense and hemispheric aQairs, told reporters Sunday. 
Agora em todas as lojas. Shop
Online:
“In light of the People's Republic of China balloon that we took down last Saturday,
we have been more closely scrutinizing our airspace at these altitudes, including
Abrir enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase in objects that we
detected over the past week,” Dalton said.
Advertisement

An airborne object was shot down Sunday near Lake Huron, marking the fourth time in
roughly a week that US aircraft have shot something down in North American airspace.
Dalton said high-altitude objects can be used by a range of companies, countries and
research organizations for “purposes that are not nefarious, including legitimate
research.” 

That was not the case, however, for China’s surveillance balloon that was shot down on
February 4 oQ the coast of South Carolina.

“Because we have not yet been able to definitively assess what these recent objects
are, we have acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our security and
interests,” Dalton said. “The spy balloon from the PRC was, of course, diQerent in that
we knew precisely what [it] was. These most recent objects do not pose a kinetic
military threat, but their path in proximity to sensitive DoD sites and the altitude that they
were flying could be a hazard to civilian aviation and thus raised concerns.”

46 min ago

Michigan lawmakers thank US military for operation

over Lake Huron
From CNN's Jack Forrest
Ad FIT

Apresentamos o Novo
Jersey FIT. Agora em
todas as lojas. Shop
Online
Agora em todas as lojas. Shop
Online:

Abrir
Rep. Elissa Slotkin asks question during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on
November 15, 2022. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)
Advertisement

Federal and state lawmakers in Michigan on Sunday recognized the US military's role in
the takedown of an airborne object over Lake Huron earlier in the day.

“The object has been downed by pilots from the US Air Force and National Guard.
Great work by all who carried out this mission both in the air and back at
headquarters. We’re all interested in exactly what this object was and it’s purpose,”
Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin said in a tweet.

The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that an F-16 fighter jet shot down the airborne object
over Lake Huron in the afternoon. 

"I’ve been in contact with DOD regarding operations across the Great Lakes region
today. The US military has decommissioned another 'object' over Lake Huron. I
appreciate the decisive action by our fighter pilots. The American people deserve far
more answers than we have," Republican Rep. Jack Bergman tweeted.

Michigan's Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, also addressed the operation

Sunday, tweeting, “Our national security and safety is always a top priority. I’ve been in
contact with the federal government and our partners who were tracking an object near
our airspace. I’m glad to report it has been swiftly, safely, and securely taken down."

“The @MINationalGuard stands ready,” Whitmer added.

The downed object marks the third one shot over North American airspace by the US
military in as many days, and the fourth in just over a week.

2 hr 14 min ago

Pentagon confirms F-16 fighter jet shot down an

airborne object over Lake Huron
From CNN's Haley Britzky

The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that an F-16 fighter jet shot down an airborne object
over Lake Huron earlier in the day. 

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the object was not assessed to be a
military threat, but it was a flight hazard.

“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but
assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance
capabilities. Our team will now work to recover the object in an eQort to learn more,”
Ryder said in a statement.

Ryder also said the object was the same one that radar detected on Saturday over
Montana that caused airspace to briefly close Saturday evening.

“North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object Sunday morning
and has maintained visual and radar tracking of it. Based on its flight path and data we
can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which
flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites,” he said.

2 hr 35 min ago

Canada 'unequivocally supports' shooting down the

unidentified object, defense minister says
From CNN's Paula Newton

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said Sunday her country supported the shooting
down of an object over US airspace by US fighter jets near Lake Huron. The object was
flying at 20,000 feet over Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when it was shot down.

“Today, a high-altitude object was detected in US airspace over Lake Huron," Anand
said. "NORAD launched Canadian and US aircraft to investigate and the object was
taken down in US. airspace by US aircraft."

"We unequivocally support this action, and we’ll continue to work with the US and
NORAD to protect North America,” she said.

1 hr 1 min ago

House Intelligence chair says he prefers ‘trigger-

happy’ approach with unidentified objects
From CNN's Paul LeBlanc

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner speaks during an interview with CNN on Sunday, February 12.
(CNN)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday he prefers how the
US shot down unidentified objects over North American airspace in recent days to
allowing them to traverse the country.

Later Sunday, a US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object near Lake Huron,
marking the fourth time in a week that the US military has taken down objects in North
American airspace. An unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada on
Saturday, and on Friday, an unidentified object was shot down in Alaska airspace by a
US F-22. A Chinese surveillance balloon was taken down by F-22s oQ the coast of South
Carolina last weekend.

“I would prefer them to be trigger-happy than to be permissive, but we’re going to have
to see whether or not this is just the administration trying to change headlines,” Turner,
an Ohio Republican, said of the Biden administration in an interview with CNN’s Jake
Tapper on “State of the Union" before Sunday's shoot-down took place.

“What I think this shows, which is probably more important to our policy discussion
here, is that we really have to declare that we’re going to defend our airspace. And then
we need to invest,” added Turner. “This shows some of the problems and gaps that we
have. We need to fill those as soon as possible because we certainly now ascertain
there is a threat.”

There’s no indication at this point that the unidentified objects have any connection to
China’s surveillance balloon but it seems that national security oMcials across the
continent remain on edge.

Read more

3 hr 6 min ago

Object was flying at 20,000 feet when shot down

near Lake Huron
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Arlette Saenz and Phil Mattingly

The object shot down Sunday by US fighter jets was flying at 20,000 feet over
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and about to go over Lake Huron when it was neutralized, a
senior administration oMcial told CNN.

The object was shaped like an octagon with strings hanging oQ it and no discernible
payload, according to the oMcial and another source briefed on the matter. Although the
United States has no indication that the object has surveillance capabilities, that has not
been ruled out as yet. 

The object was first detected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command and
the US Northern Command over Montana on Saturday night, and fighter aircraft were
sent to investigate, the senior administration oMcial said. At the time, those planes did
not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits, which led NORAD and NORTHCOM
to believe it was an anomaly.

But on Sunday, defense oMcials reacquired the radar contact and detected the object
flying over Wisconsin and then Michigan. The path of the object and its altitude raised
concerns that it could pose a threat to civilian aircraft, but it did not pose a military
threat to anyone on the ground, the oMcial said. President Joe Biden ordered the object
to be shot down. 

CNN initially reported that the object was shot down over Lake Huron based on what
sources said to CNN and a public tweet by Rep. Jack Bergman.

Search CNN... Search

World US Politics Business Markets Health

Africa The Biden Presidency Tech Pre-markets Life, But Better

Americas Facts First Media After-Hours Fitness
Asia 2022 Midterms Success Market Movers Food
Australia Perspectives Fear & Greed Sleep
China Videos World Markets Mindfulness
Europe Investing Relationships
India Markets Now
Middle East Before the Bell
United Kingdom Nightcap

Entertainment Tech Style Travel Sports

Movies Innovate Arts Destinations World Cup

Television Gadget Design Food and Drink Tennis
Celebrity Foreseeable Future Fashion Stay Golf
Mission: Ahead Architecture News Motorsport
Upstarts Luxury Videos Football
Work Transformed Beauty US Sports
Innovative Cities Video Olympics
Climbing
Esports

Videos Features Weather More

Live TV As Equals Climate Photos

Digital Studios Call to Earth Storm Tracker Longform
CNN Films Freedom Project Wildfire Tracker Investigations
HLN Impact Your World Video CNN Profiles
TV Schedule Inside Africa CNN Leadership
TV Shows A-Z 2 Degrees CNN Newsletters
CNNVR CNN Heroes Work for CNN
All Features

Audio FOLLOW CNN Log In

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Cookie Settings Ad Choices About Us Modern Slavery Act Statement Advertise with us

CNN Store Newsletters Transcripts License Footage CNN Newsource Sitemap

© 2023 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.
CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.

02:15 / 02:59