In a dramatic turn of events, the United States military took decisive action over the skies of Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday. President Joe Biden, acting upon concerns raised by the Defense Department (DOD), directed an F-16 fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified flying object (UFO) that was flying at an altitude of 20,000 feet.

According to the DOD, the path and altitude of the airborne object caused alarm and raised concerns about the potential threat it posed to civil aviation. In response, President Biden ordered the use of an AIM-9X missile to neutralize the UFO.

The shoot-down took place shortly before 2:42 p.m. and was carried out with the utmost care to ensure the safety of civilians on the ground. The DOD reported that there were no indications of any injuries or harm caused to the public.

In a statement, Lt. Col. César Santiago of the DOD stated that “the location chosen for this shoot down afforded us the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery.”

This marks the fourth instance of an object being shot down over North America in the past week, with the first being a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th. The second and third objects were believed to be smaller balloons, which were shot down over Alaska and Canada, respectively.

U.S. officials are still working to determine the identity of two more objects that were taken down by F-22 fighter jets over the past two days. There are growing concerns that China is responsible for these sightings, given Washington’s claims of Beijing’s large-scale aerial surveillance program.

However, U.S. officials have stated that the two recent objects were much smaller in size and appearance, and flew at a lower altitude compared to the suspected Chinese spy balloon. They have also noted that these objects were not consistent with the fleet of Chinese aerial surveillance balloons that have targeted more than 40 countries, stretching back at least into the Trump administration.

The large white orb first appeared over the U.S. in late January, and since then, Americans have been fixated on the sky above them. U.S. authorities have made it clear that they constantly monitor for unknown radar blips, and it is not uncommon to shut down airspace as a precautionary measure to evaluate them.