According to what the strategic communications coordinator of the National Security Council, John Kirby, told the press, the device was tracked during the last 24 hours, flying at an altitude of 12 kilometers and represented a supposed threat.

“Biden asked the military to shoot down the object, and they did. And it came from within our territorial waters,” said the source quoted by CNN.

He added that US Northern Command fighter jets took down the device.

“We call this an object because that’s the best description we have at the moment. We don’t know who owns it, whether it’s state, corporate or private,” Kirby said.

He also specified that so far no information confirms the purpose of the device, with approximate dimensions of a small car, and that they hope to be able to recover the debris to have details about it.

US warplanes shot down a Chinese research balloon that accidentally entered US airspace last Saturday, prompting the White House to launch accusations of alleged espionage. As clarified by the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this was a civilian device that carried out meteorological investigations and deviated from the scheduled route due to bad weather and its poor ability to self-direct.

China filed a protest this week to the US rejecting the downing of its balloon and urged Washington to refrain from further exacerbating a situation that has strained bilateral ties.

ef/oda/cgc