US military shoots down fourth flying object after Great Lakes airspace closure

The US and Canada have raised the surveillance over their airspaces after a number of unindentified flying objects were spotted. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, meets with Canada's Minister of National Defense Anita Anand, far left, at the Pentagon in Washington, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. © J. Scott Applewhite, AP

A US fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Joe Biden. It was the fourth such downing in eight days and the latest military strike in an extraordinary chain of events over US airspace that Pentagon officials believe has no peacetime precedent.

Part of the reason for the repeated shootdowns is a “heightened alert” following a spy balloon from China that emerged over US airspace in late January, Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and US Northern Command, said in a briefing with reporters.