What are those things flying our friendly skies?
Of course, Republicans want to shoot first and ask questions later. You know, like the Air Force general in Iron Man.
U.S. fighters shot down another flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday at President Biden’s instructions (New York Times):
An object first appeared over Montana on Saturday and then disappeared, leading officials to conclude that it was an anomaly. But the object reappeared on Sunday over Montana, then over Wisconsin and Michigan. The object, which was flying at 20,000 feet and posed a potential threat to civil aviation, had an octagonal structure with strings hanging off but had no discernible payload, U.S. officials said.
An F-16 shot down the object over Lake Huron.
National security officials on Sunday discounted the possibility that the objects shot down over the weekend might have extraterrestrial origins. However, Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Air Force’s Northern Command, said during a news conference, “I haven’t ruled out anything at this point.”
“I would prefer them to be trigger-happy than to be permissive,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union. “But we’re going to have to see whether or not this is just the administration trying to change headlines,”
Uh-huh.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh mentioned difference between the three objects shot down over the weekend. They’ve been reluctant to characterize them as balloons:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, said Congress needs to investigate why it took so long for the US to catch on to the Chinese government’s use of spy balloons.
“I do think (Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana) is looking into why it took so long for us, our military, our intelligence, to know about these balloons. That’s something I support. Congress should look at that. That’s the question we have to answer,” he said. “I think our military, our intelligence are doing a great job, present and future. I feel a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. But why, as far back as the Trump administration, did no one know about this?”
Perhaps because, as Frank Herbert suggested in “Dune,” “the slow blade penetrates the shield.” Mabe the radars have trouble with smaller, slower-moving objects.