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The United States has shot down three unidentified objects over North American airspace between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12, while China prepares to deal with one.
First contact
Following the downing of a 60 meter tall balloon off the eastern coast of the U.S. on Feb. 4, tensions have been rising.
Social media in the U.S. had a split reaction to the shooting down of the balloon.
Some said President Joe Biden had been derelict in his duty, by allowing the balloon to travel across the continental United States.
Others said that his predecessor Donald Trump had failed to take action on reported similar previous incidents during his time in office.
Biden himself barely mentioned the incident during his State of the Union speech, preferring to focus on the economy instead.
Balloons
But rather than the State of the Union drawing a line under the event, events have ramped up.
Between Feb. 10 to Feb. 12 three unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), what the U.S. military calls unidentified flying objects, have been shot down over North America.
The first UAP was shot down over the northern coast of Alaska, the second was shot down over Canada's adjacent Yukon territory.
The object shot down over the Alaskan coast was reported by the New York Times to be "much smaller" than the balloon shot down on Feb. 4.
The first balloon was said to be over 6o meters tall, or the size of three busses. The Alaskan object was said to be the size of a "small car".
The Yukon object was taken down by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet, with the cooperation of Canada's air force.
Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau thanked the U.S. for "keeping watch over North America".
The most recent object was shot down on Feb. 12 according to Nikkei.
The downing occurred over Lake Huron, one of the massive bodies of water that lie between the U.S. and Canada, and was carried out by F-16 fighter jets.
Three body problem
There has been a marked change in messaging regarding the first object and the most recent three.
The first object was clearly identified as a balloon, and its origin was not in doubt.
China had admitted owning it, although they said that it had gone astray, and the U.S. was not shy about identifying it as such.
The latest three objects have not been officially identified, either in terms of what they were, or their country of origin.
However, the U.S.'s Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has, in comments to the press, called the Alaska and Yukon objects "balloons", as quoted by the BBC.
Nope
The reluctance to identify the objects' make and origin, as well as the use of terminology such as UAP has led some playful speculation about whether the objects were even from Earth.
Reuters reports that when a U.S. defence official was asked about whether the U.S. military was ruling out extraterrestrial origins for the objects, with the official replying that they were "not ruling anything out".
Some members of the U.S.'s civilian intelligence analysis community have long warned that such UAPs represented a capability gap for the U.S. military, but that the objects were otherwise very much human made.
Concerns over civilian air traffic
Another notable aspect of the recent events is that the objects were closer to the ground.
While the initial balloon was operating at around 60,000 feet (18km), the Guardian reports the Alaska and Yukon objects were flying at around 40,000 feet(12 km).
The latest Huron object was flying at around 20,000 feet, about 6km. Civilian aircraft generally fly at around 35,000 feet (10km).
The latest object was shot down partially due to concerns about civilian air traffic in the area.
When reports first emerged of the first balloon, China's foreign ministry said it "regrets" that it strayed into U.S. airspace.
However, when the first balloon was shot down, China's media and government bodies adopted a harsher tone and were quick to decry its downing, with some members of China's foreign ministry seemingly mocking the U.S.'s response.
However, with the latest incidents, it has yet to comment.
Dark forest
On Feb. 12, China has also reported an unidentified object flying off the coast of the city of Qingdao in Eastern China.
At this moment, there are few details about the object, but the Global Times tweeted an official notice warning of the object.
The notice also asked fishing vessels operating nearby to be wary of falling objects, and to help document and salvage any that fall near them.
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Top image via Wikipedia & badger_wings/Instagram