A fourth flying object was shot down by the US military. Here’s what we know

A fourth flying object was brought down by the United States military on Sunday.

Here’s what we know:

• This “unidentified object” was shot down by an F-16 fighter jet using a Sidewinder air-to-air missile, according to the New York Times.
• The object was first spotted over Montana on Saturday. It was brought down Sunday over Lake Huron.
• President Joe Biden issued the order.
• According to The Associated Press, the latest object was flying at about 20,000 feet and “was octagonal, with strings hanging off, but had no discernable payload.”
• According to The Associated Press, the last three objects “were much smaller in size, different in appearance and flew at lower altitudes than the suspected Chinese spy balloon” that was brought down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

“It was extraordinary that four objects were shot out of the sky by U.S. fighter jets in eight days,” The Associated Press reported. “Pentagon officials have said they don’t know when the last shootdown of an unknown or unauthorized object over U.S. territory occurred.”

Reactions to another flying object being shot down

Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich. said via Twitter that he was informed by the Department of Defense “regarding operations across the Great Lakes region” on Sunday.

“The American people deserve far more answers than we have,” he wrote.

Helene Cooper of the New York Times wrote that “the incursions seemed to become so common that Biden administration officials have found themselves issuing private assurances that there is no evidence that they involve extraterrestrial activity. But officials also acknowledge privately that the longer they are unable to provide a public explanation for the provenance of the objects, the more speculation grows.”

Third flying object shot down Saturday

A third flying object was shot down by a United States F-22 aircraft over the Yukon Territory in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he issued the order to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

“Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object,” Trudeau wrote.