Mysterious objects shot down over North America: Conflicting reports and speculation abound

Reports about mysterious flying objects recently detected and destroyed above the U.S. and Canada have sparked a debate about their source. Balloons, military crafts, a group of foreign machines or from another world entirely? Speculations vary widely.

F our mysterious flying objects have been shot down over the United States and Canada in the past ten days since February 4. The first was a 200-foot-tall balloon carrying an equipment-laden gondola, identified by U.S. authorities as a Chinese “spycraft”. Three more objects of different characteristics were detected and destroyed afterwards.

Conflicting reports and speculation have created confusion over the origin and purpose of these flying objects. U.S. Senate majority leader Charles Schumer suggested that two of them were balloons, but the U.S. Defense Department said otherwise.

It has raised questions of whether more objects are flying over the United States or are just being identified with increased scrutiny now that the U.S. defence radars detect smaller, slower-moving objects.

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, a state-of-the-art aircraft that was recently used to shoot down incoming objects. | CREDIT: UNSPLASH/LUKE JERNEJCIC

Not so unusual

According to Taiwanese sources, multiple sightings of military balloons in their airspace have been reported in recent years; this supports the belief that the balloon was part of a larger fleet across five continents and forty countries already before entering U.S. airspace.