By Biodun Busari 

President of the United States, Joe Biden, ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified “high-altitude object” off Alaska, on Friday. 

The White House spokesman, Mr. John Kirby, said the unmanned object was “the size of a small car” and posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation, according to BBC, on Saturday. 

Kirby further said that the purpose and origin of the object was unclear, as the incident occurred barely a week after the American military destroyed a Chinese balloon hovering over US territorial waters.

Speaking on the destruction of the object,  Kirby said the debris field of the object shot down on Friday was “much, much smaller” than the balloon shot down last Saturday off the coast of South Carolina.

BBC noted that the object was flying at 40,000ft (12,000m) over the northern coast of Alaska.

It had already flown across Alaska at a speed of 20 to 40mph (64km/h) and was out over the sea travelling towards the North Pole, when it was shot down.

Commercial airlines can fly as high as 45,000ft.

Helicopters and transport aircraft have been deployed to collect debris from the frozen waters of the Beaufort Sea.

“We do not know who owns it, whether it’s state owned or corporate owned or privately owned,” Kirby said.

The object was first seen on Thursday night, though officials did not specify a time.

According to the White House official, two fighter jets had approached the object and assessed there was nobody on board, and this information was available to Biden when he made his decision.

“We’re going to remain vigilant about our airspace,” Kirby affirmed. “The president takes his obligations to protect our national security interests as paramount.”