Originally Posted by
BFSGrad
Size of a small car and at 40K ft. How did this object achieve gravitational status quo one might ask...
The Pentagon spokesman seemed confused this from the BBC report:
Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed that an F-22 jet shot down the object - which was moving at an unknown speed - with a sidewinder missile at 13:45 EST (18:45 GMT).
Mr Ryder said a significant amount of debris had been recovered so far. It was being loaded onto vessels and taken to "labs for subsequent analysis," he said, which "will prove helpful to our further understanding of this balloon and its surveillance capabilities".
Officials have not yet determined whether the object was involved in surveillance, and Mr Kirby corrected a reporter who referred to it as a balloon.
