'Hoping for Triangle Next': Internet Chuckles as Pentagon Downs Octagonal & Cylindrical Objects
08:24 GMT 13.02.2023 (Updated: 12:45 GMT 13.04.2023)
© AP Photo / Charles DharapakThis March 27, 2008, file photo, shows the Pentagon in Washington. The Pentagon said Tuesday, July 6, 2021, that it is canceling a cloud-computing contract with Microsoft that could eventually have been worth $10 billion and will instead pursue a deal with both Microsoft and Amazon. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
© AP Photo / Charles Dharapak
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Earlier, an American F-16 fighter aircraft using an AIM-9 missile shot down an unidentified "octagonal structure" over Lake Huron, near the border with Canada, at an altitude of "about 20,000 feet," Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman said, citing information from the Department of Defense.
Netizens sarcastically wondered if someone was “teaching a math class in the sky", after reports came in that US jets had shot down a fourth high-altitude, this time octagonal object near Lake Huron "out of an abundance of caution".
The latest incident involving a mysterious flying object floating over North America unleashed a torrent of speculation from internet users. Imaginations ran wild, as some speculated that it could be aliens, others wondered whether they would ever be told the truth by the US government officials, and still others suggested that "these antics" were deliberately intended to "pull people's attention away" from internal problems plaguing the country.
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
© Photo : Twitter
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
© Photo : Twitter
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
© Photo : Twitter
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
© Photo : Twitter
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Weighing in on the US allegations that at least the first such object, shot down last week, was an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, internet users suggested that China was "trolling" America.
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
© Photo : Twitter
President Joe Biden also got slammed by users as a "weak" POTUS.
© Photo : TwitterTwitter screenshot.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
SpaceX and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk could not pass up the opportunity to react on his Twitter platform, tweeting tongue-in-cheek that it was "some friends" of his "stopping by".
© Photo : TwitterScreenshot of Twitter account of Elon Musk.
Screenshot of Twitter account of Elon Musk.
© Photo : Twitter
Earlier, the US Department of Defense (DOD) admitted it so far lacks sufficient information on the airborne objects shot down over recent days, with US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs Melissa Dalton saying during a Sunday Pentagon briefing:
"We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these recent objects are. We have acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our security interests."
On 4 February, the United States shot down what it claimed was a Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it had drifted for days over the US. This was followed by two more great-altitude airborne objects being taken down over Alaska (10 February), and Canada's Yukon Territory (11 February) , with the latter described as cylindrical. Washington alleged that the first balloon detected in early February was conducting surveillance of potentially sensitive national security sites. China insists the airship was engaged in scientific research.
12 February 2023, 18:08 GMT