Media: US used $500K missile to down boy scout balloon mistaken for UFO

Former US government officials have said that some of the aerial objects shot down by the US military in February 2023 following the Chinese balloon incident were later identified as hobbyist or research balloons.

The US Air Force dispatched an F-16 fighter jet on February 12, 2023, to intercept an unidentified object over Lake Huron. Video released by the US Department of Defence last month as part of a broader disclosure of files related to unidentified aerial phenomena shows a dark orb-like object in the aircraft's targeting system moments before it was destroyed, The New York Post learned. 

Tim Phillips, a former interim director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), said the heightened response followed public scrutiny surrounding the Chinese surveillance balloon that crossed US airspace earlier that month.

"The F16 shot at a balloon over Lake Huron. After the [Chinese spy] balloon embarrassment, DOD was shooting at every [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena] they detected," Phillips told The New York Post.

Sean Kirkpatrick, former director of AARO, said the object destroyed over Lake Huron belonged to a Boy Scout troop.

"[The balloon] had circumnavigated the globe eight times before we shot it down with a half-million-dollar missile," Kirkpatrick said during a conference on April 27.

"You can imagine the response on the Hill when I briefed that," he added.

Kirkpatrick also stated that the balloon had been part of an ongoing research project.

Separate reports indicated that another object shot down over Alaska on February 11, 2023, was later linked to a low-cost research balloon operated by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. According to media reports, a US Air Force F-22 fighter used a missile costing approximately $439,000 to destroy the object.

Kirkpatrick also recounted another incident in which a military pilot reported encountering an unidentified object with unusual characteristics.

On that occasion, he said, a fighter pilot reported encountering a UFO with “stealth-like capabilities” and was authorized to fire a missile, only to destroy a star-shaped Mylar balloon purchased from Walmart bearing the message “Happy Birthday.”

By Sabina Mammadli