The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a notice to airmen (NOTAM) late Saturday night warning that it had designated an area in the northern part of Montana as a “national defense airspace” and that anyone who entered the airspace would be intercepted.
“I am in direct contact with NORCOM and monitoring the latest issue over Havre and the northern border,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) tweeted. “Airspace is closed due to an object that could interfere with commercial air traffic — the DOD will resume efforts to observe and ground the object in the morning.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) confirmed the news, tweeting: “I am aware of the object in Montana air space and remain in close contact with senior DOD and Administration officials.”
The incident occurred after a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor shot down an unidentified object over Canada Saturday afternoon after gaining authorization from Canadian officials. The U.S. military shot down another unidentified object off the coast of Alaska Friday afternoon.
All of this comes after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon last weekend off the coast of South Carolina using an F-22 Raptor. The fighter jet fired an air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile from 58,000 feet to down the surveillance threat. The decision to shoot down the spy balloon came after President Joe Biden allowed it to fly thousands of miles over the continental U.S.
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