(TJV) A US official has said Friday that the US military engaged and shot down an unidentified object flying over Alaska on Thursday night, upon the order given by President Biden, Zero Hedge reported

In a briefing administration spokesman John Kirby said the Pentagon had been tracking the object before deeming it a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian aviation, as it was traveling at 40,000 feet:

Kirby: A “high altitude object” has been shot down over Alaska pic.twitter.com/Ps2W9nCBHz

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 10, 2023

It’s unconfirmed whether the unidentified object was a balloon, “but it was traveling at an altitude that made it a potential threat to civilian aircraft,” according to The New York Times, which first reported it Friday afternoon.

The president gave the shootdown order “out of an abundance of caution,” the unnamed US official said, coming on the heels of the dramatic Chinese ‘spy’ balloon shootdown off the American east coast last Saturday.