Several high-altitude airspace security events were reported in February 2023, initially over North America, then over Latin America, China, and Eastern Europe.

North American sightings

3000km
2,000miles
none
Feb 4: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Feb 4: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Feb 12: Lake Huron
Feb 12: Lake Huron
Feb 11: Yukon, Canada
Feb 11: Yukon, Canada
Feb 10 Deadhorse, Alaska
Feb 10: Deadhorse, Alaska
Map
Approximate location where objects were shot down over North America

After the sightings of a Chinese balloon in 2023 (later shot down off the coast of South Carolina), the U.S. began more closely scrutinizing its airspace at high altitudes, including by radar enhancements that allowed the U.S. to better categorize and track slower-moving objects.[1][2] General Glen VanHerck, the commander of NORAD, said that in 2021, up to 98% of raw radar data was not routinely analyzed, because the military aimed to filter out radio signal emanating from flocks of birds or weather balloons (as opposed to potential threats). VanHerck said that the U.S. adjustments to radar monitoring in 2023, after the Chinese balloon intrusion, gave the U.S. "better fidelity on seeing smaller objects."[2] The U.S. radar adjustments and increased vigilance increased the detection of objects.[1][2][3] It remains unknown when state-actor balloon incursions had begun.[4]

On February 14, after unidentified high-altitude objects had been detected and shot down over northern Alaska, Yukon, and Lake Huron, White House spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. Intelligence Community "will not dismiss as a possibility that these could be balloons that were simply tied to commercial or research entities and therefore benign. That very well could be, or could emerge, as a leading explanation here."[2] The downing of the Yukon object, on February 11, 2023, marked the first deployment of NORAD to down an aerial object within the 64-year history of the US-Canadian aerospace warning and air sovereignty organization.[5] The objects shot down over northern Alaska, Yukon, and Lake Huron were all smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down over South Carolina.[6] A report by The Guardian on 17 February suggested that one of the objects "may have been amateur hobbyists’ $12 balloon."[7]

When asked about possible extraterrestrial origin of the three objects downed over North America between February 9–12, General VanHerck said he personally had not "ruled out anything", but he deferred to U.S. intelligence experts.[8]

Recovery operations

Since several of the objects were downed in relatively inaccessible locations, ranging from sea ice off the Arctic Ocean coast of Alaska to remote alpine terrain in Yukon and deep US-Canada boundary waters in the middle of Lake Huron, recovery efforts have required considerable amounts of coordination and care.[9][10][11]

On February 16, 2023, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that the search for the Lake Huron object had been suspended due to deteriorating weather and low chance of recovery.[12]

On February 16, 2023 at about 11 a.m., a suspected weather balloon believed to have originated in China was discovered at a shooting range on Dongyin, Lienchiang, Taiwan.[13]

On February 18, 2023, it was reported that the searches for the Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron objects had all been abandoned.[14]

List of events

Detected Shot down Location(s) Incident Circumstances Ref.
January 28, 2023 February 4, 2023

United States USAF F-22

Alaska, Western Canada, and contiguous U.S. 2023 Chinese balloon incident A Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon transited Canadian and U.S. airspace before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina by the U.S. Air Force on February 4. [15][16][17][18]
February 2, 2023 — Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela 2023 Latin America balloon incident A Chinese high-altitude balloon flew over Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela. A spokesperson for the Chinese government confirmed the balloon was theirs and said that it was used for "flight tests" and was blown off-course. [19]
February 9, 2023 February 10, 2023

United States USAF F-22

Alaska (North Slope) 2023 Alaska high-altitude object A high-altitude object entered U.S. airspace on February 9 and was shot down over the Beaufort Sea by the U.S. Air Force. The Department of Defense said it was the size of a small car and flying northeast at approximately 40,000 feet (12,000 m), posing a risk to civilian flight. [20][21][22][23]
— February 11, 2023

United States USAF F-22

Yukon 2023 Yukon high-altitude object Canadian and U.S. authorities ordered the downing of an unidentified object over Yukon, and a U.S. Air Force F-22 (part of the joint U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command) shot down the object in Canadian airspace. [24]
February 11, 2023 February 12, 2023

United States MNANG  F-16

Alberta, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Lake Huron 2023 Lake Huron high-altitude object An octagonal object with strings hanging from it was detected over northern Montana, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at 20,000 feet (6,100 m).

Airspace was temporarily closed in the Lake Huron area, where the object was shot down by the US Air Force and National Guard, falling into Canadian waters.

[25][26][27][28][29]
February 12, 2023 — Rizhao 2023 Shandong high-altitude object Chinese authorities said they detected an unidentified object over the Yellow Sea, in waters near Qingdao, and were planning to shoot it down due to proximity to Jianggezhuang, a major PLA naval base. [30][31][32][33]
February 14, 2023 — Southeast Romania, and Moldova 2023 Moldova and Romania high-altitude objects The Romanian Air Force unsuccessfully attempted to intercept an unidentified object detected roughly 36,000 feet (11,000 m) above Southeast Romania.

Neighboring Moldova briefly closed its airspace due to a balloon-like object.

[34][35]
February 16, 2023 — Shijiazhuang 2023 Hebei high-altitude object Shijiazhuang Airport, serving Hebei's provincial capital, was shuttered for two hours due to local airspace "being occupied" by an unidentified flying object. Government sources later stated that the object was a balloon but provided no further follow-up, leading to a drop in domestic Chinese stocks. [36]
February 19, 2023 — Pacific Ocean, northeast of Hawaii 2023 Pacific Ocean high-altitude object American air traffic control from the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center reported that a large white balloon had been reported to be flying at an altitude of roughly 40,000 to 50,000 feet (12,000 to 15,000 m) over the Pacific Ocean, about 594 miles (956 km) northeast of Honolulu, United States. [37]
April–May, 2023 — Hawaii 2023 Hawaii high-altitude object The balloon flew over parts of Hawaii and was heading towards Mexico. [38]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b Long, Colleen; C. Baldor, Lolita; Miller, Zeke (February 12, 2023). "'Unidentified object' downed over Lake Huron 1st detected above Montana". Helena Independent Record. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Lamothe, Dan; Horton, Alex (February 14, 2023). "Three objects shot down over U.S., Canada may be 'benign'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  3. ^ Sforza, Lauren (February 13, 2023). "Increase in aerial objects possibly due to 'enhancing radar': US official". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  4. ^ Tsirkin, Julie; Kube, Courtney; Concepcion, Summer; De Luce, Dan (February 12, 2023). "U.S. military shoots down unidentified object over Lake Huron". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  5. ^ Alba, Monica; Romero, Dennis (February 11, 2023). "U.S. shoots down unidentified object in Canadian airspace". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Matza, Max (February 14, 2023). "Chinese balloon sensors recovered from ocean, says US". BBC News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  7. ^ Luscombe, Richard (February 17, 2023). "Object downed by US missile may have been amateur hobbyists' $12 balloon". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  8. ^ Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil (February 13, 2022). "Ruling out aliens? Senior U.S. general says not ruling out anything yet". Reuters. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Nann Burke, Melissa; Beggin, Riley (February 13, 2023). "White House: Shot-down object likely in deep waters of Lake Huron". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  10. ^ Otis, Daniel (February 13, 2023). "What we know about the search for two flying objects shot down over Yukon and near Ontario". CTV News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  11. ^ Britzky, Haley; Bertrand, Natasha; Pelish, Aaron (February 11, 2023). "What we know about the unidentified object shot down over Alaska | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  12. ^ "Lake Huron search for debris suspended, search efforts continue in Yukon". Royal Canadian Mounted Police. February 16, 2023. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  13. ^ Yeh, Joseph (February 16, 2023). "Taiwan military finds Chinese weather balloon debris on frontline islet". Focus Taiwan. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023.
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  19. ^ Gregorian, Dareh; Kube, Courtney; Gains, Mosheh; Richards, Zoë (February 3, 2023). "Another Chinese 'surveillance balloon' is flying over Latin America, Pentagon says". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
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  21. ^ Gittleson, Ben (February 10, 2023). "US shoots down unknown 'high-altitude object' over Alaska, White House says". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Cooper, Helene; Barnes, Julian E.; Wong, Edward (February 10, 2023). "U.S. Shoots Down High-Altitude Object Over Alaska". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  23. ^ Aratani, Lauren (February 11, 2023). "Mystery surrounds what exactly was object US jet shot down over Alaska". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  24. ^ Newton, Paula; Britzky, Haley (February 11, 2023). "US jet shoots down 'unidentified object' over northern Canada". CNN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  25. ^ Liebermann, Oren; Atwood, Kylie; Bertrand, Natasha; Saenz, Arlette; Mattingly, Phil; Britzky, Haley (February 12, 2023). "US military shoots down high-altitude object over Lake Huron on Sunday". CNN. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  26. ^ "'Octagonal' object shot down by military aircraft over Lake Huron, officials confirm to ABC News". ABC7 Chicago. February 12, 2023. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  27. ^ Long, Colleen; C. Baldor, Lolita; Miller, Zeke (February 12, 2023). "'Unidentified object' downed over Lake Huron 1st detected above Montana". Helena Independent Record. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  28. ^ McLeary, Paul; Olander, Olivia; Seligman, Lara; Ward, Alexander (February 12, 2023). "U.S. downs unidentified object over Lake Huron, third destroyed since Chinese spy balloon". Politico. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  29. ^ Tasker, John Paul (February 13, 2023). "Trudeau says flying objects brought down over the past week may be linked". CBC News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  30. ^ Shoaib, Alia (February 12, 2023). "Chinese authorities said they were preparing to shoot down an 'unidentified flying object' spotted near the Yellow Sea". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  31. ^ Watt, Louise (February 12, 2023). "China prepares to shoot down unknown flying object near coast". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  32. ^ Rahman, Khaleda (February 12, 2023). "Now China Says It Has Spotted a UFO". MSN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  33. ^ "China Ready to Down Object Flying Near Naval Base: Paper". Bloomberg News. February 12, 2023. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  34. ^ "Romania detects suspicious weather balloon in its airspace, ministry says". Reuters. February 14, 2023. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  35. ^ "Moldova briefly shuts airspace after report of balloon-like object". Reuters. February 14, 2023. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  36. ^ Koetse, Manya (February 16, 2023). "Netizens Puzzled after Balloon in Shijiazhuang Sky Creates Flight Disruptions". What's on Weibo. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  37. ^ "'Large white balloon' spotted northeast of Hawaii". BNO News. February 14, 2023. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  38. ^ Kube, Courtney; Lee, Carol E. (May 1, 2023). "U.S. military is tracking another mysterious balloon". NBC News. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
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