UPDATED ON: FEBRUARY 13, 2023 / 12:59 PM / CBS MINNESOTA BY WCCO STAFF
Fighter wing based out of Duluth shot down object over Lake Huron, Gov. Walz says.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says fighter pilots based out of Duluth shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron Sunday.
Walz says the 148th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard fighter unit known as the Bulldogs, took off from Madison, Wisconsin to shoot down the object as part of a federal mission.
“The Bulldogs executed their mission flawlessly, protected the homeland, and got the birds home safe,” Walz said in a tweet.
A congressional source briefed on the matter told CBS News the Defense Department is confident there has been no collateral damage. Later Sunday, the Defense Department confirmed there was no collateral damage.
On Feb. 4, the U.S. downed a balloon over the coast of South Carolina that had drifted across the U.S. over several days. That balloon had originated in China, and the U.S. said it carried surveillance equipment. China has insisted the balloon was an airship that had blown off course and that the U.S. had “overreacted” by shooting it down.
China on Monday said more than 10 U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington’s accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. The United States denied that it operates any surveillance balloons over China.
Sunday’s shootdown marked the third unidentified object to be shot down over the U.S. and Canada in three days and fourth overall this month. U.S. officials downed a “high-altitude object” flying over Alaska on Friday, and an unidentified object was shot down by Canada on Saturday.
