A US Airforce Chief has said they are not ruling anything out as they continue to investigate an unidentified flying object that was shot down on Sunday afternoon.
The object was obliterated by the US Airforce near the Canadian border after officials raised the alarm over its potential to put commercial aircraft at risk.
The Pentagon explained that the object had the potential to interfere with commercial air traffic because it was traveling at 20,000 feet - which is why it was ordered to be shot down by both the US and Canadian Presidents.
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The object that was taken down over Lake Huron was first spotted above a military area in Montana on Saturday, according to the Pentagon.
Defence officials say the object was unmanned and octagonal in shape, with strings hanging off it.
A missile was launched from an F-16 fighter jet at 2:42 pm local time but the Pentagon has not classified it as a military threat.
As investigations continue, a US Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said that he would not rule out aliens at this time.
When asked whether he had ruled out extraterrestrial activity, General Glen VanHerck said: "I'll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven't ruled out anything.
"At this point we continue to assess every threat or potential threat, unknown, that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it".
However, mystery remains as VanHerck told reporters: "We're calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason, said VanHerck, who is head of the joint US-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the US Air Force Northern Command.
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