Airspace over Montana was closed for nearly an hour late Saturday, shortly after a US fighter jet downed a high-altitude “object” over Canada.
The closure prompted fears that another object was detected in US airspace, but officials later blamed a “radar anomaly” for the action and said no new object was detected.
“With cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) implemented a temporary flight restriction airspace in central Montana on Feb. 11, 2023, to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement.
“NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation,” the agency added.
Several Montana lawmakers earlier claimed that an “object” was detected.
“I am aware of the object in Montana air space and remain in close contact with senior DOD and Administration officials. I am closely monitoring the situation and am receiving regular updates. I will continue to demand answers for the American public,” Sen John Tester said on Twitter.
And Rep Matt Rosendale said the Pentagon would resume efforts to address the “object” on Sunday morning. He did not elaborate after the latest NORAD statement
“I am in direct contact with NORCOM and monitoring the latest issue over Havre and the northern border. Airspace is closed due to an object that could interfere with commercial air traffic — the DOD will resume efforts to observe and ground the object in the morning,” the congressman said on Twitter.
The latest frenzy comes hours after a US fighter jet downed another “object” in Canada, which came a day after yet another object was shot down over the north coast of Alaska and about a week after the US downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
An unnamed US official offered an explanation to The Washington Post for the increase in detections.
“We basically opened the filters,” the official told the paper, speaking to the radar and sensor operations that detect objects in US airspace.
