The U.S. military shot down an "object" that was flying in territorial waters over Alaska, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday afternoon during a White House press briefing. He added that the "object" was "much, much smaller than the spy balloon that we took down last Saturday."
Kirby added that the "object" landed on frozen waters, and added that "Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour." "The way it was described to me was roughly the size of a small car as opposed to a payload that was like two or three busses sized," Kirby said.
美国国务院一名高级官员周四（2月9日）表示，美国将考虑对与中国军方有关的实体采取行动。这些实体为中国间谍气球飞入美国领空提供支持。
这名官员表示，华盛顿相信，上周末被美军击落的中国气球的制造商与中国人民解放军有“直接关系”。
该制造商还在其网站上宣传气球产品，并展示过去飞行的视频，这些飞行似乎飞越了美国和其他国家的领空。这名国务院高级官员没有透露该公司的名称。
这位官员说，已经获得由U-2高空侦察机拍摄到的气球的高分辨率图像，显示气球有能力进行信号情报收集工作。
该官员称，中国已经对五大洲的40多个国家进行了类似的监测飞行。美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯（Ned Price）在随后的新闻发布会上说，这些活动“持续了几年”。