Reports of three flying objects being shot down over North America caused a stir. So far it is unclear what this is about. There are parallels to a suspected spy balloon shot down from China almost ten days ago. But what do we really know about the objects so far?
A wild weekend with new sightings and shooting down of strange flying objects over North America gives a lot of room for speculation. Even a possible alien invasion is being discussed on social media - the commander responsible for defending the airspace over the USA and Canada does not want to rule it out, which causes additional turmoil. What do we know so far about the origin and type of the objects?
The fact is that three previously unidentified flying objects were shot down by warplanes over Alaska, Canada and Michigan on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. According to the commander of the joint North American Air Defense Command of the USA and Canada (NORAD), Glen VanHerck, the objects were "very, very small". They would also have moved slowly, at about the speed of the wind.
It is also clear that a Chinese balloon entered US airspace at the end of January, which was only officially confirmed on February 2nd. After crossing the United States, the balloon was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. US secret services describe the vehicle as a spy balloon, which China rejected - it was just a stray weather balloon, according to Beijing.
Another balloon from China had been sighted over Latin America, which Beijing said had also accidentally lost its path. There have previously been at least five violations of US coastal airspace by Chinese balloons, including three during President Donald Trump's administration.
Alaska - Friday, February 10: As early as Thursday at 9 a.m. local time, a US radar system detected an object over Alaska that was flying at an altitude of around 12,000 meters and was thus lower than the Chinese balloon, which was flying at an altitude of 18,000 meters. The route ran across Alaska and out to sea towards the North Pole, at speeds of around 30 to 60 km/h. Due to the flight altitude, the object is said to have posed a danger to civil aviation. The White House said it was shot down out of sheer caution. An F-22 fighter jet took the object out of the sky on Friday with an air-to-air missile.
So far it has not been confirmed that it is also a balloon. According to US media, the object broke into pieces after falling onto the frozen sea surface off Alaska. According to White House spokesman John F. Kirby, it was the size of a small car, significantly smaller than the Chinese balloon's payload, which was the size of three buses.
CANADA - Saturday, February 11: On Saturday, Air Defense Command NORAD reported shooting down another object over Canada's Yukon Territory, which borders Alaska. According to the Pentagon, this object was already detected by radar over Alaska late Friday local time. It was shot down at an altitude of around 12,000 meters, again by a US F-22. Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand described the object as being cylindrical and smaller than the Chinese balloon that had been launched earlier.
Michigan - Sunday, February 12: Also on Saturday, the US military received a radar signal over the US state of Montana, which then initially disappeared again. On Sunday, the signal reappeared over Montana and then over the US states of Wisconsin and Michigan. After visual confirmation, it was shot down by an F-16 fighter jet 6,000 meters above Lake Huron, which lies between Canada and the United States.
According to US media, the object was described by a government official as an octagonal structure with threads hanging from it, so it had no apparent payload. It probably wasn't a balloon, according to US officials.
Theory 1 - more Chinese balloons: The suspicion is that the objects shot down are also balloons of Chinese origin. In Washington it is believed that China operates a whole fleet of spy balloons. According to US media reports, at least in the case of the object shot down over Alaska, there was no evidence that it came from China.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, citing the National Security Council, said the objects are believed to be balloons. However, NORAD commander VanHerck dismissed this: "I will not classify them as balloons - we do not call them 'objects' for nothing." The size of the objects also differs significantly from that of the downed Chinese balloon.
According to ntv meteorologist Björn Alexander, the flight altitude and routes of the unknown objects would actually match balloons that are being driven from Asia via the jet stream to North America: "In principle, the jet stream blows in two bands in the northern and southern hemispheres from west to east . And at an altitude of about eight to twelve kilometers." It is quite conceivable that China could use the jet stream to intentionally send spy balloons towards North America. However, chance also plays a role, since no really precise forecasts can be made about the flight route.
Theory 2 - spy balloons from another country: According to the "New York Times", US officials are also speculating that the three objects shot down could be military aircraft from other countries. Their intention could be to test North American anti-aircraft defenses after the Chinese balloon incident. After reports from Ukraine that Russia would also use spy balloons in the war against its neighboring country, it seems plausible that Russia could use reconnaissance balloons in North America. Beijing itself reported the sighting of an unidentified flying object off the waters of Shandong Province over the weekend.
Theory 3 - various military and/or civil flying objects: A possible explanation for the frequent sightings and shooting downs of flying objects could be that at the moment people are simply taking a closer look. According to US Deputy Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton, after the alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down almost ten days ago, the radar settings were changed to look out for smaller and slower objects. The airspace over North America has since been checked more closely at the altitude in question, Dalton said.
Very different flying objects are in flight at such heights, including those from research institutes and private companies. It is therefore conceivable that there is no increase in objects at all, but that the air defenses of the USA and Canada, after the excitement about the Chinese balloon, also shoot down flying objects that they had previously let pass without much ado. It could therefore be a mixture of military flying objects from other countries and civil flying objects.
The sighting of unidentifiable flying objects in the United States is nothing new: a report published last month states that since March 2021 alone, another 366 incidents have been reported - 163 of which were later identified as balloons and 26 as unmanned aerial vehicles. Accordingly, 171 flying objects remained unidentified, some of which had shown "unusual flight characteristics or performance".
Theory 4 - extraterrestrial flying objects: Although NORAD commander VanHerck did not want to rule out extraterrestrial flying objects behind the launches, this theory is apparently not seriously pursued. According to a US official quoted in US media, it is commonly assumed that the objects shot down were manufactured and developed on Earth.
When will the riddle be solved? According to US Deputy Secretary of Defense Dalton, the missions to recover the three objects that were shot down were still ongoing. The search in Alaska near the town of Deadhorse was difficult given the cold, snow and darkness in the northernmost US state. Rescuers searching for debris in Canada's Yukon were assisted by a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft. According to the New York Times, US officials said that video recordings and other sensor values collected by American pilots were now being analyzed. It is not yet clear when the results will be presented to the public.
