Fighter pilots who shot down a mysterious hovering object over Alaska have revealed it “interfered with their sensors” and had “no identifiable propulsion system”.
In an interview with anchor Jim Acosta on Saturday, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand reported on the startling results of F-35 pilots who were scheduled to shoot down an unidentified flying object over Alaska on Friday.
The revelations sent Twitter into a frenzy, with both the terms “UFO” and “another UFO” trending over the weekend, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reported that a surveillance balloon had been shot down over the Yukon.
However, another airborne object reportedly flying over Montana on Saturday has turned out to be a “false alarm.”
It remains unclear if a surveillance balloon, like the one that flew over Canada and another that flew over the US last week, would have the technology to jam sensors.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand revealed over the weekend that F-35 pilots tasked with shooting down an unidentified flying object over Alaska didn’t know what it was
Natasha Bertrand stayed on CNN throughout Saturday to discuss the latest developments as reports poured in of a spy balloon being downed in Canada.
During a conversation with host Jim Acosta, she brought up the fact that another unidentified flying object was shot down over Alaska on Friday by Air Force pilots who “were unable to identify what they were seeing.”
“When the US first spotted this object over Alaska on Thursday, they sent F-35 jets up to look at it and see what was going on. And those pilots gave very conflicting reports,” she revealed.
“Some of them said that this object was actually interfering with their plane’s sensors and they couldn’t figure out why because there was no identifiable type of surveillance equipment on the object.
“There was nothing that could easily interfere with this communications system,” said Bertrand.
“And then other pilots said they didn’t see anything on the object that seemed capable of powering it, that it looked like there was no way it could actually stay aloft.”
She pointed out that the pilots were flying really fast, so it’s “possible those pilots just didn’t get it right.”
“But that’s one of the reasons the Pentagon has been reluctant to come out and say more about what this object actually is.”
The interview made a splash on Twitter, where the term “UFO” started trending on Saturday.
She told Jim Acosta that fighter pilots reported that the object was interfering with their communications and appeared to have no propulsion system
In a tweet, Caleb Howe, a writer for Mediaite, wrote: “Welp. We shot down the aliens. There goes our chance to join the Federation”, which refers to the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek.
What we know about the Alaska UFO
The unidentified object, which was flying over Alaska, first entered U.S. territorial waters on Thursday, officials have announced.
Air Force teams then conducted a flyby that night and Friday morning.
They described the object as “about the size of a small car” which does not resemble “in size or shape” the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down on February 4.
Pilots are also said to have described the plane interfering with their communications with “no identifiable propulsion system.”
It was then shot down Friday by a Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson F-22 fighter jet equipped with an AIM 9x missile.
Recovery teams are now “in the process of searching for and identifying debris on the seabed,” US officials said.
Philip Holloway, a radio host and legal analyst, also joked that “UFOs are the #SuperBowlVII halftime show,” while Barrett Sallee, a CBS Sports host, “is the only person who can stop the UFOs” with a GIF of the President of Independence tweeted day.
And TV writer Danielle Greenbaum Davis tweeted Sunday, “So we’re still waiting for answers on the whole UFO situation?”
The UAP – said to be the size of a small car – was first caught by US radar as it flew over Alaska on Thursday.
Crews then conducted a flyby again that night and Friday morning.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced Friday that it had been shot down within an hour of an order from President Joe Biden.
The object was shot down by an F-22 with an A9X missile from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
Several officials also said the object shattered into pieces after being hit by the missile, adding to the mystery of what the object really is.
A US official revealed that the pilots who intercepted the object said it was cylindrical in shape and had no observable surveillance equipment attached.
Officials have yet to confirm what the object is or what country it belongs to. It’s unclear if this is another Chinese spy balloon similar to the one shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.
Authorities have said only that it was traveling at an altitude that could be potentially harmful to civilian aircraft, the New York Times reported.
The Pentagon has now launched a salvage operation to collect the debris from the surface of the frozen waters off Alaska.
The fighter jets were dropped from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage on Friday morning to intercept the object near Deadhorse Bay (above) on the northeast coast
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, said in a news release Friday that he “appreciated the senior officials at the Department of Defense who informed me this morning of the sighting of this latest object.
“As I have done for the past week, including yesterday in a confidential briefing with senior Pentagon officials, I strongly encouraged the NORTHCOM commander this morning to shoot down this recent unidentified incursion into Alaskan airspace,” Sullivan said.
“I commend her for that today.
“As I reiterated to senior Defense Department officials yesterday, we must restore deterrence regarding Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, which believes they can intentionally infiltrate American airspace whenever they choose.
“That has to stop. The best way to do that is through the kind of action we took in Alaska today and the public reiteration that we will shoot down any unidentified aircraft violating our airspace.
“We must also adequately equip our Alaskan military with the sensors and aircraft needed to detect and, if necessary, destroy anything from slow-moving balloons to hypersonic missiles.”
“Alaska is our nation’s defensive front. The last few weeks have made this even clearer.”
Matt Rosendale, a congressman from Montana whose Havre district is part of, said Saturday night he was told the US military would “track the object until it gets light again.”
Havre, home to 10,000 people in northern Montana, is 30 miles south of the Canadian border
Meanwhile, authorities confirmed Saturday that reports of another unidentified flying object over Montana were a “false alarm.”
Matt Rosendale, a Republican state official, first sounded the public alarm about the UAP by tweeting that he was briefed by the Department of Defense during a dinner.
He said fighter planes were scrambling and airspace over Havre, a city of 10,000 people 30 miles south of the Canadian border, closed at 7:50 p.m. before reopening about 50 minutes later.
“I’m at an event right now, a Lincoln Reagan dinner in Columbus, Montana,” Rosendale told Fox News.
“And the Department of Defense called me while I was sitting here and started giving me briefings to tell me what was going on.
“I checked with you that this is actually the fourth balloon, okay.”
“We shot down the first one over the Atlantic. One was shot down before entering Alaskan airspace. A third was shot down, Trudeau ordered over Canada. So now we’re talking about a fourth incident.’
But NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – later released a statement saying it was a false alarm and explaining that a “radar anomaly” was seen but jets “did not identify an object that correlated with the radar hits.” could become”.
“In cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) established a temporary restricted flight airspace in central Montana on February 11, 2023 to ensure the safety of air travel in the region during NORAD operations,” it said it . “The restriction has been lifted.
“NORAD spotted a radar anomaly and sent fighter jets to investigate. These aircraft did not identify any object that could be correlated with the radar hits
“NORAD will continue to monitor the situation,” it added.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, is seen Tuesday. On Saturday, he announced that an “unidentified object” had been shot down over the Yukon
A third unidentified flying object sighted over Canada has been confirmed to be another spy balloon – like the one that flew through the United States earlier this month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Saturday that he had called on US and Canadian forces to make an effort to “intercept an unidentified object that has violated Canadian airspace,” and a US F-22 caught it at 3:00 p.m.: Shot down at 41 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
A senior government source told CBC News that the object crossed Canadian territory on Saturday morning. It was described as smaller than the Chinese spy balloon that made its way over the US earlier this month.
Two F-22s were dispatched from the US from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska; and two F-18s from Cold Lake Air Base in Alberta, Canada to shoot down the object over Canada.
It was shot down by an AIM-9X missile at 3:41 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, flying at an altitude of about 40,000 feet. The missile is described by the manufacturer as “the most advanced short-range infrared-tracking air-to-air and surface-to-air missile in the world.”
In the aftermath, Trudeau said Canadian teams are now working to recover the debris.
“I have ordered the downing of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” he tweeted Saturday.
“@NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and US aircraft were confused and a US F-22 fired successfully at the object.”
Trudeau said he was in touch with Biden about the intrusion.
He thanked NORAD — the North American Aerospace Defense Command based in Colorado Springs, Colorado — for working with his forces.
“I spoke to President Biden this afternoon. Canadian forces will now recover and analyze the debris from the object,” Trudeau said.
“Thank you NORAD for keeping an eye on North America.”
Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand also praised the joint operation.
She said she discussed the incident with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “and reiterated that we will always defend our sovereignty together.”
A Chinese “spy balloon” was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last weekend
The rush of flying objects over American airspace comes less than a week after US military fighter jets shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
Biden gave the order but wanted the balloon down even earlier, on Wednesday.
He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was afloat, US officials said.
Military officials determined that a fall over land from a height of 60,000 feet would pose an unreasonable risk to people on the ground from falling debris.
China responded that it reserved the right to “take further action” and criticized the US for “an apparent overreaction and a serious breach of international practice.”
It was alleged that the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft with looming repercussions.