1 US/CANADA
Mystery objects shot down by US military planes
The US military shot down a third flying object over North American airspace in three days, as the air force general overseeing the airspace said he would not rule out any explanation for the objects yet.
The high-altitude unidentified object, described as an “octagonal structure” with strings attached to it, was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan on 11 February. It is understood to have been the same item that was picked up by radar over Montana the day before. At the point it was struck by an air-to-air missile launched by F-16 fighter jets, it had been flying across the Great Lakes region at about 6,00 metres.
The Pentagon said the object appeared to have travelled near US military sites and posed a threat to civilian aviation, as well as being a potential tool for surveillance.
Three unidentified flying objects have been downed in eight days, with the second downed over Yukon, Canada. A large balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February. That object was claimed by China, although Beijing has insisted that it was involved in innocent weather research.
2 UNITED STATES
Biden asks for cross-party unity in wake of pandemic
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