Washington: Less than a week after the military brought down a Chinese balloon that had flown across the United States, a US F-22 fighter jet on Friday shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, according to US officials.

The object, which was about the size of a small car, was brought down by a sidewinder missile, according to US Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesman.

Given that initial reports indicated the object did not pose a military threat and was relatively primitive, President Joe Biden's order to shoot down the object, which was announced from the White House, represented a rare presidential level involvement.

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After a week-long journey across the United States and some of Canada, the Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down by another US F-22 fighter jet on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina, according to the US government.

The president was criticised by Republicans and some of Biden's Democratic party colleagues for delaying taking action against the first balloon. An international diplomatic crisis erupted as a result of the incident, forcing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a trip to Beijing.

The Pentagon and the White House only said that the most recent target to be shot down was much smaller than the Chinese balloon and declined to provide further details. Pentagon reported that it was flying at about 40,000 feet.

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John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, said, "We don't know who owns this object.

The target, which was flying northeast, was shot down over the far northeastern region of Alaska, close to the Canadian border. According to the Pentagon, ground radars were first used on February 9 to detect it. Then fighter jets were sent to conduct additional research.

According to Ryder, American pilots who were flying alongside it found no one was inside. He continued that it was immobile and did not look like an aeroplane. Ryder and other government representatives refused to say whether it might just be a weather balloon or another kind of balloon.

According to Ryder, it wasn't an aircraft in the traditional sense. At 1:45 PM Eastern Time, the F-22 destroyed the object. Ryder acknowledged that the US military commander in charge of North American airspace had the authority to shoot down objects that posed a military risk or a risk to the American people when asked why Biden's consent was required.

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In this specific instance, it was found that this posed a legitimate threat to air traffic, according to Ryder.
Following the downing of the 200-foot-tall (60-meter-high) Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon, US authorities have been searching the ocean for wreckage and the electronic equipment's undercarriage.

Ryder told reporters that "a significant" portion of the balloon had already been found or recovered, implying that American authorities may soon have more knowledge about any advanced Chinese espionage equipment on board the ship. Ryder said, "That will be very helpful for us learning more about it.