US jet shoots down object floating at high altitude over Alaska – National & International News – FRI 10Feb2023

US jet shoots down object floating at high altitude over Alaska.

Former acting Defense Secretary says Pentagon budget should be cut in half.

Turkey-Syria quake: Newborn, toddlers rescued four days later.

NATIONAL NEWS

US jet shoots down object floating at high altitude over Alaska

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced a short while ago that a US jet had shot down an object floating at around 40,000 feet in Alaskan airspace. Kirby told reporters that the object was about the size of a car. It also seemed to have no means of propulsion and was floating “at the whim of the wind”. According to Kirby, fighter aircraft went up to get a look at the object after it was spotted on radar. The pilots believed it was not manned. However, Kirby said, “It was difficult for the pilots to glean a whole lot of information”.

President Biden gave the order to shoot the object down, not because of any surveillance risk but because its lack of maneuverability made its course unpredictable, making it a danger to air traffic. Kirby said the object was shot down over frozen territorial waters  “So, a recovery effort will be made,” Kirby said, “and we’re hopeful that it will be successful and then we can learn a little bit more about it”.

An unnamed government source told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that the object was “cylindrical and silver-ish gray”. When Raddatz asked if it was “balloon-like,” the source responded, “All I say is that it wasn’t ‘flying’ with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon-like’ well — we just don’t have enough at this point”. The description is reminiscent of objects reported by UFO watchers for years. However, this object is most likely terrestrial in origin, though as John Kirby pointed out, we don’t know who it belongs to yet or even what it is. 

Spy balloon furor fueling speculation, tensions

The incursion of this new object comes after a flurry of headlines about the Chinese spy balloon shot down last weekend. What we know from official and cited sources at this point is that officials believe it was capable of monitoring signal intelligence, that is, communications. The White House has also disclosed that such balloons have been sighted in the airspace of 40 countries over four continents.

However, the FBI says that their analysis of the balloon and the technology it was carrying is in a very early stage. Very little of the balloon’s hardware has yet been recovered.  The actual reconnaissance platform was only located yesterday. It remains submerged off the Carolinas and searches haven’t yet attempted to retrieve it due to rough seas.

Former acting Defense Secretary says Pentagon budget should be cut in half

Christopher Miler, who served as Acting Sec. of Defense in the final days of the Trump administration, says it’s time to “dramatically” cut the Pentagon’s budget. The Pentagon’s current $816 billion budget cut be cut by as much as half, Miller says. In addition to being wasteful, Miller contends that runaway defense spending contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle that incentivizes belligerence with foreign powers to justify more funding.

“We have created an entire enterprise that focuses economically on creating crisis to justify outrageously high defense spending,” Miller said in an interview on CBS. “You have to starve the beast to make people come out of their cubby holes and start thinking creatively,” Miller said. Miller also said that certain older and costly weapons systems should be phased out in favor of newer, more efficient and less expensive technology. 

In the interview, Miller specifically cited rapidly escalating tensions with China as an example of the military-industrial complex stoking conflict to feed a vast network of defense contractors. He also said that feeding those military tensions is counterproductive and is only strengthening Chinese President Xi’s position. “I think by constantly harping on the fact that China is the new threat and we’re going to go to war with them someday actually plays right into Chairman Xi’s hands and the Chinese Communist Party,” Miller said. “They need to have an enemy that they can, you know, focus their people’s anger and attention on and I think we provide them that opportunity by constantly harking on the fact that the Chinese are the greatest threat to America and what not.” 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Turkey-Syria quake: Newborn rescued four days after earthquake

Rescuers examine 10-day-old Yagiz Ulaz who was rescued today, 4 days after a deadly earthquake in Turkey.

The death toll of Monday’s earthquake in southern Turkey has risen over 23,000 in Turkey and northwestern Syria. This makes it easily the deadliest earthquake in the world since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The Haiti killed in excess of 100,000 people, though some estimates put the number as high as 316,000.

Because of the weather, bureaucratic snarls, and damage to infrastructure, aid workers and equipment have had a difficult time reaching the hardest hit parts of Turkey and Syria. However, there have been some moments that have brought some hope to an unspeakably dark situation. Today, a 10-day-old baby named Yagiz Ulas was rescued alive along with his mother in Turkey’s hard-hit Hatay province. 

At least eight other children were also rescued alive today, spurring on tired and overwhelmed rescuers. You can read more about their stories by clicking the link below.

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