MAP. After the Chinese balloon qualified as a spy by the United States in early February, three suspicious aircraft were eliminated across the Atlantic this weekend.
By Thibaut Deleaz
© AP Associated Press SIPA
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VPanic or mass surveillance operation? After the balloon described by the United States as a “spy” and attributed to China was spotted in American skies in early February, American and Canadian authorities shot down three more flying objects in a single weekend between the 10th and 12th FEBRUARY. The Americans also revealed that several spy balloons had flown over the country in recent years, but also other regions of the world, particularly in Asia.
Difficult to know exactly which objects it is: if the authorities were rather verbose about the first balloon, which strained relations with China, the information about the other three objects filter by the dropper. The debris must still be recovered by the armies of the two countries in order to be analyzed. This increase in unidentified flying objects detected and shot down may also be due to more sensitive surveillance since the balloon incident. We take stock.
February 2: From Alaska to South Carolina, a Chinese spy balloon
The object, which looks like a large hot air balloon, was spotted in the US sky earlier this month, in the stratosphere (more than 10 kilometers above sea level, above commercial traffic). It was officially evoked on February 2, and tracked for two days until the US military shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina on February 4. President Joe Biden refused to do so earlier, for fear of damage to civilians on the ground.
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This balloon, 60 meters high and equipped with large solar panels, carried a basket weighing more than a ton, according to the Pentagon. The American authorities evoke “many antennas, a set probably capable of collecting and geolocating communications”, and attribute the paternity of the spy balloon to China. If the Chinese now recognize that the balloon comes from home, they claim that it had no military purpose and was only a tool for civilian scientific measurements. The debris is being collected by the US military.
February 10: Unidentified object in Alaska
“The size of a small car”, a second suspicious flying object was shot down on Friday February 10 in the airspace of Alaska. A spokesperson for the White House claims not to know “who is the owner” of the object, and not to understand “for the time being its use”. It flew at an altitude of 12,000 meters, a little lower than the balloon assigned to China.
Before shooting it down, indicates CNN, American pilots were able to approach it. At first sight, they would not have spotted any surveillance device. The debris of the object fell on frozen waters in Alaska, near the Canadian border, according to the White House.
February 11: unidentified object in the Yukon
This Saturday, February 11, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau evokes an “unidentified object”, shot down by American pilots, as part of a joint operation under the aegis of Norad, the Aerospace Defense Command of America North. He was then in the Yukon, about 160 kilometers from the border with the United States.
Like the one spotted the day before in nearby Alaska, it was flying at around 12,000 meters above sea level. The object was, according to Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand, a “cylindrical device, much smaller than the balloon at the beginning of the month”. “The Canadian forces will now repatriate and analyze the debris of the object,” said Justin Trudeau.
February 12: Unidentified object over Lake Huron
A fourth object was shot down over Lake Huron this Sunday, February 12, at the border between the United States and Canada. According to the American media, it would be the same object detected the day before by radars in Montana and which had led to a brief closure of the airspace.
This new object, described by the authorities as “octagonal” and “without an apparent nacelle”, flew at a lower altitude than the others, at 6,000 meters. It posed no military threat, according to the Pentagon. An operation is in preparation to try to recover the debris.