The U.S. government closed airspace over northern Lake Michigan for a brief time Sunday, shortly before a military jet shot down an object over Lake Huron.
A Pentagon statement said an F-16 fired an AIM9x Sidewinder missile at the object, which was flying at an altitude of 20,000 feet over Lake Huron. It said the shoot-down happened at 2:42 p.m. Eastern Time, following orders from President Biden.
"Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation," said the statement, issued Sunday evening. "The location chosen for this shoot down afforded us the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery."
The Department of Defense also says the object is likely the same one that showed up on radar near sensitive military sites in Montana. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly shut down airspace there on Saturday, initially reporting it as a "radar anomaly."
U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, a Republican who represents northern Michigan, took to Twitter on Sunday to say that the U.S. had “decommissioned another ‘object’ over Lake Huron,” and thanked fighter pilots for their “decisive action.”
"The American people deserve far more answers than we have," he wrote.
I’ve been in contact with DOD regarding operations across the Great Lakes region today.
— Rep. Jack Bergman (@RepJackBergman) February 12, 2023
The US military has decommissioned another “object” over Lake Huron.
I appreciate the decisive action by our fighter pilots.
The American people deserve far more answers than we have.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Lansing, also wrote about the incident on Twitter, saying she'll "continue to ask for Congress to get a full briefing based on our exploitation of the wreckage."
The object has been downed by pilots from the US Air Force and National Guard. Great work by all who carried out this mission both in the air and back at headquarters. We’re all interested in exactly what this object was and it’s purpose. 1/ https://t.co/LsjwtjntCv
— Rep. Elissa Slotkin (@RepSlotkin) February 12, 2023
The airspace closure over Lake Michigan was brief — a little under two hours, according to The Detroit News.
Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport switched traffic to different runways, but flight schedules were not significantly affected, airport spokesperson Susan Wilcox Olson told IPR News.
Sunday's incident follows the downing of a high-altitude balloon carrying surveillance equipment from China earlier this month off the coast of South Carolina, and the shoot-down of another object floating above northern Alaska. A third object was shot down over the Yukon Territory, in Canada.
Officials recovered the aftermath of the Chinese balloon that was downed over the Atlantic, and were searching for wreckage from the object near Alaska, which was believed to have landed on the frozen Arctic Ocean.
The Pentagon says it will work to recover the object shot down over Lake Huron "in an effort to learn more."
IPR's Michael Livingston contributed to this report.
