US shoots down unidentified object over Lake Huron after tracking object in Wisconsin

CHICAGO – The United States shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron on Sunday. This is the fourth time in a week that unidentified objects have been shot down in North American airspace.

“He proceeded through the upper part of the Michigan peninsula. We received permission to attack the target … and eventually shot down an object 15 nautical miles east of the peninsula in Lake Huron, said NORAD commander General Glen VanHerke. “The fighters were from Madison, Wisconsin, Air National Guard Unit.”

“We will remain vigilant. We have improved our radars. Operations last week were successful in eliminating these potential threats,” said Melissa Dalton, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland and Hemispheric Affairs.

“Today I contacted the Department of Defense regarding operations in the Great Lakes region. The US military decommissioned another “object” over Lake Huron. I appreciate the determined actions of our fighter pilots,” said Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan).

“The object was shot down by US Air Force and National Guard pilots. Excellent work by all who carried out this mission both in the air and at headquarters. We’re all interested in what exactly this object was and what its purpose is,” said Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) on Twitter.

Earlier Sunday, the FAA announced “national defense airspace” over part of Lake Michigan. The FAA said it closed the area to allow the US military to study a “potential contact” that was soon determined to be non-threat. The FAA last established National Defense Airspace over Montana this weekend in response to an unidentified flying object.

The object shot down over Lake Huron was shot down at about 20,000 feet, according to a senior US Department of Defense official, according to FOX News. The object was very different from the Chinese spy balloon. It was much smaller and not maneuverable.

“We cannot rule out that these are weather balloons,” a senior US official told FOX News.

Sunday’s incident follows three previous unidentified object incidents. On Saturday, a US fighter jet shot down an object in Canadian airspace at the behest of NORAD and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. On Friday, an object “the size of a small car” was shot down over Alaska. Earlier this week, another object was shot down over the east coast.

In all three recent cases, the United States registered a flare on the radar, sent fighter pilots to investigate, and then ordered F-22 fighter pilots to shoot down the object. The pilots were able to give some physical description but were unable to unambiguously identify the objects, a senior Defense Department official told FOX News.