The United States has shot down another unidentified flying object, the fourth such operation this month.
On Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden directed that it be brought down near Lake Huron, near the Canadian border.
The object, which was going at 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), may have interfered with commercial air traffic, according to a Pentagon statement.
It was initially spotted above military sites in Montana on Saturday, according to the report.
Defense officials described the device, which was not deemed a military danger, as an unmanned “octagonal construction” with strings attached to it. At 2:42 p.m. local time, it was brought down by a missile fired by an F-16 fighter jet (19:42 GMT).
The incident raises new concerns about the recent spate of high-altitude objects shot down over North America.
After hovering for days over the continental US, a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th. According to officials, it originated in China and was used to monitor sensitive sites.
China denied using the gadget for surveillance and claimed it was a weather monitoring device that had gone awry. The episode, and the ensuing acrimonious responses, heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.
However, a defense official said on Sunday that the US had contacted Beijing about the first item after receiving no response for several days. What was discussed was not immediately obvious.
In the days since that first occurrence, American fighter jets have shot down three more high-altitude objects.
On Friday, President Biden directed that an object be shot down over northern Alaska, then on Saturday, a similar object was shot down over the Yukon in northwestern Canada.
Officials have not revealed the origin or purpose of these things. Both the United States and Canada are still searching for the remains, although the search in Alaska has been hampered by Arctic weather.
