Case files / shootdowns-2023
Three objects shot down in three days
- When
- February 10 to 12, 2023 · 2023 on the timeline
- Where
- Off northern Alaska, over Canada's Yukon, and over Lake Huron
- Reported by
- NORAD and US fighter pilots
- Released
- White House and Pentagon statements, 2023; F-16 video in the second 2026 release
- Status
- Shot down; never officially identified
On February 4, 2023, a US fighter shot down a large Chinese balloon off South Carolina after it crossed the country. NORAD then adjusted its radar to look for smaller, slower objects. Over the next three days, on President Biden's orders, US jets shot down three more: a small object off northern Alaska on February 10, a small cylindrical object over Canada's Yukon on February 11 (with Canada's agreement), and an object over Lake Huron on February 12, downed by an Air National Guard F-16.
Searches in Alaska, the Yukon and Lake Huron were called off within days because of weather, ice and deep water, and no official identification of any of the three was ever announced. On February 16, Biden said the objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, and not part of China's balloon program.
In 2026 the Pentagon released a 46-second infrared video titled as the Lake Huron shoot-down (record DOW-UAP-PR071). AARO says it was uploaded to a classified network that month and that its chain of custody is not established; at the 20-second mark the object breaks apart.