US Military Shoots Down “Object” Over Lake Huron, Northern Michigan Area

Following the shooting down of a China “spy” balloon over one week ago, the third “object” of three consecutive smaller magnitude objects was shot down at 2:42 p.m. ET Sunday, February 12, 2023 over Lake Huron (or near Lake Huron) by an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile fired from an F-16. Initial reports from military sources stated the operation involved the United States Air Force and the Michigan Air National Guard.

The U.S. Department of Defense stated that the airborne object was flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the State of Michigan. The object’s path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation. The location chosen for this “shoot down” afforded military strategists the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery. There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected. North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object Sunday morning and maintained visual and radar tracking of the object. Based on the object’s flight path and flight data, military authorities reasonably connected this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites. The military did not assess the object to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assessed it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities. The U.S. military team will work to recover the object in an effort to learn more.

Recently three “objects” have been shot down in three days — one over Alaska on Friday, and one over the Yukon Territory in Canada on Saturday — both by U.S. F-22 jets; and then the object over northern Michigan today, Sunday.

The first incident involved a suspected Chinese “spy” balloon that was tracked across sensitive military areas of the continental United States, and then shot down off the coast of South Carolina by a U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jet on February 4, 2023.

The military claimed leaders waited to shoot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean because of concerns that shooting it down over land could risk injury to people, who could be hit by debris falling to the ground.

Apparently the three smaller objects have not been spotted until they have entered US air space. The source of the “objects” have not been identified, while the larger “spy” balloon has been attributed to China.

AWAC in the Chicagoland Area
An AWAC aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base was tracked over Chicagoland and over northern Michigan after the FAA declared a “National Defense Airspace” earlier Sunday afternoon, February 12, 2023. After flying over Chicagoland, up the Lake Michigan shoreline, then in a circle around Fond du Lac and Sheboygan in Wisconsin; a USAF Boeing E-3B Sentry (AWAC) flew north toward Sturgeon Bay then across Lake Michigan to northern Michigan. The AWAC (Airborne Warning and Control System) jet then flew several circles over Charlevoix, Michigan, and an area south-southeast of Charlevoix, Michigan — to about Gaylord, Oak Grove and Otsego, Michigan. The Lake Huron shoreline is about 50 miles northeast of Otsego Lake, and about 65 miles due east of Otsego Lake.

The Federal Aviation Administration declared a “National Defense Airspace” with restrictions over part of northern Lake Michigan near Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin at 11:02 a.m. CT Sunday, February 12, 2023.

The FAA did not initially clarify the reason for the civilian air traffic restriction of northern Lake Michigan, but a NOTAM alert #3/4885 provided possible consequences to pilots that don’t adhere to the restricted airspace alert.

The alert stated that consequences to pilots that fail to adhere to the flight restriction could include …

civil penalties and suspension or revocation of airmen certificates,

criminal charges,

deadly force if an aircraft is considered a threat, and

interference, disruption, seizure, damage or destruction of unmanned aircraft if the unmanned aircraft is deemed to be a credible threat.

Observers of some military aircraft flights available on websites and apps indicated that a USAF E-3B Sentry appeared to be approaching the specific Lake Michigan area.

The restriction was lifted by early afternoon, and at about 12:50 p.m. CET a British Airways A380 flying from London to Dallas was flying through the formerly restricted area, along with other aircraft. Other aircraft in the area included an Atlas Boeing 747 cargo jet flying from Anchorage to New York, and a Delta/SkyWest Embraer.

Also, preceding 1:00 p.m. Sunday, February 12, 2023, a USAF Boeing E-3B Sentry was tracked from southwest of Chicagoland, and flew over DeKalb, Sycamore, Carpentersville, downtown Barrington, an area between Kemper Lakes Business Center and Heron Creek Forest Preserve, Vernon Hills, Gregg’s Landing North, downtown Libertyville, an area between Gurnee Mills Mall and Six Flags Great America, Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve, the Kenosha Regional Airport, downtown Milwaukee, and continued north along the lakefront. At about 1:05 p.m. the USAF Boeing E-3B Sentry was circling around Fond du Lac and Sheboygan, Wisconsin at about 31,000 feet. Later the USAF AWAC flew northeast toward Sturgeon Bay.

A KC-135 refueling aircraft this afternoon has also been circling over Traverse City, Michigan and east of Traverse City over the Au Sable State Forest and Huron National Forest in Michigan — east of Lake Michigan. An H60 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk was up in the air northeast of Traverse City over Charlevoix.

Yesterday, Saturday, February 11, 2023, the FAA declared National Defense Airspace over Montana in reaction to an unidentified flying object or anomaly that was detected on radar. Pilots in fighter jets could not match a visible sighting that corresponded to the radar.

Get updates from The Cardinal ALL NEWS FEEDS on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts and sub-category posts from The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com. You can also limit feeds to specific categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …

https://twitter.com/minationalguard