'Hoping for Triangle Next': Internet Chuckles as Pentagon Downs Octagonal & Cylindrical Objects

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.

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.

President Joe Biden also got slammed by users as a "weak" POTUS.

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".

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:

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.