Update 2024-11-30 : The White House has since said there ’s no reading the late takedowns involved aliens . Press Secretary Karine Jean - Pierre express joy off the suggestion on February 13,saying : " I know there have been inquiry and concern about this , but there is no — again , no denotation of aliens or extraterrestrial activity — [ laughter ] — with these recent takedown . Again , there is no indication of aliens or [ extra]terrestrial body process with these recent takedown . "

The US military has pullulate down a quaternary flying object over North American airspace in just two weeks . It ’s presently uncertain what the latest aim to be down was , but authorities say they ’re not reign anything out at the moment — not even alien .

The airborne aim was picked up on microwave radar above Montana on Saturday , February 11 , before being shot down on Sunday by an air - to - atmosphere missile launch by F-16 fighter aircraft honey oil over Lake Huron , concord to thePentagon .

It was visualize flying at an altitude of some 6,096 meters ( 20,000 metrical unit ) and was deemed to pose a “ hazard to civil aviation . ”

The latest flying object has been described as an “ octangular structure ” and has string bind to it . It ’s been suppose that the quaternary flying object is different from the previousballoon shot out of North American airspacelast hebdomad , but authorities will not definitively characterize it until they have analyzed the dust .

The armed services launched a project force to convalesce and meditate the object in the hopes of determine its origin and intention .

For now , however , it remains a enigma . mouth at a press conference , General Glen VanHerck , head of NORAD and US Northern Command , was asked whether there was any chance the aircraft was anextraterrestrial . He replied : “ I have n’t ruled out anything at this gunpoint , ” according to theAssociated Press .

“ I believe this is the first fourth dimension within United States or American airspace that NORAD or United States Northern Command has taken kinetic action against an airborne object , ” he added .

Thesaga began on January 28when a Chinese high - altitude balloon was tell apart in North American air space . By February 4 , the balloon was spud down off the coast of South Carolina . While China say the balloon was used for meteorological use and had plainly err off course , the US and Canada swan that the balloon was for spying .

Since then , three more aerial objects have been downed after entering North American airspace . A flying object described as a type of airship was brought down over the remote northerly coast of Alaska on Friday , while a little balloon was shoot down over Canada ’s Yukon on Saturday , Prime Minister Justin Trudeauconfirmed .

In another strange twist to the tale , China has nowaccusedthe US of “ illicitly ” fly high-pitched - altitude balloons into its own air space more than 10 times since January 2022 . There are alsoreportsthat China is preparing to shoot down down an unidentified “ object ” flying above water near a Jianggezhuang Naval Base in Qingdao .

This unusual sequence of events has have relations between the US and China to sour with a plotted land visit to China by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , the first by a senior US diplomat since 2018 , nowpostponed .