In 2023, a U.S. Air National Guard F-16CM shot down an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) over Lake Huron. Newly released footage shows that the object may be a balloon.
On February 12, 2023, a U.S. Air National Guard F-16C shot down an ‘unidentified object’ in Canadian airspace over Lake Huron. The object was described at the time as being octagon-shaped and flying at 20,000 feet, posing a threat to commercial aircraft flying in the area.
This engagement marks the fourth time an object has been shot down over North America. As we reported in detail at the time, the first was on February 4, 2023, at 2:39 p.m., when an F-22 Raptor from Langley Air Force Base’s 1st Fighter Wing shot down China’s famous high-altitude balloon with an AIM-9X infrared-guided air-to-air missile off the coast of South Carolina and within U.S. airspace. The second was a “high-altitude object” described as “cylindrical and silvery-gray” and appearing to be floating, shot down over Alaska by an F-22 launched from Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson on February 10, 2023. The third object was shot down over the Yukon, Canada, on February 11. According to some reports, the objects shot down over Alaska and the Yukon (the second and third shots down) were too balloons, but both were smaller than the famous Chinese object shot down on February 4th.
This author commented on the third object shot down yesterday: This still applies today.
“At this point, I cannot help but note that this trend is worrisome. What is particularly interesting is that while the first was clearly a balloon, the second and third remain unidentified, possibly falling into the category of so-called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). Were these drones released to reconnoiter the United States? Perhaps. Perhaps. After the criticism raised in response to China’s reconnaissance balloon (which flew over the United States for several days before being shot down), there is definitely something going on. (Atlantic), NORAD had engaged the “intruder” earlier (off the coast of Alaska, over territorial waters on February 10, and over uninhabited areas of Canada on February 11).”
At that time, we saw an increase in the number of skirmishes following increased airspace monitoring following the Chinese balloon incident. Perhaps the ROE, or rules of engagement, have also changed, leading to premature “disposal” of unidentified objects. “Interestingly, no photos of the encounter have yet been released, but the pilot certainly took some photos and pointed the aircraft’s targeting pod at the object,” we said.
We finally got a chance to see video of a Minnesota ANG F-16 shooting down a UAP with an AIM-9X air-to-air missile (AAM). The video was released by the Pentagon as part of the second batch of declassified material released to the public under the President’s Disclosure and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) initiative. The first batch was published on May 8th.
You can see the clip for yourself below.
Here’s the explanation that accompanies the video in the DOW release:
On March 6, 2026, eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives requested access to 51 UAP-related records believed to be held by the War Department and the intelligence community. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has identified a collection of reactive materials stored on a confidential network. Many of these materials lack proven chain of custody.
AARO assesses that the video, which has the uploader-defined title “USAF ANG F-16C (callsign (CALLSIGN)) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with (Weapon System), 12 Feb 2023,” is likely derived from infrared sensors on U.S. military platforms operating within the U.S. Northern Command area of responsibility in 2023. A user uploaded this video to a confidential network in February 2023.
Video description: At the 11-second mark, the sensor focuses on a contrast area in the center of the field of view. At the 20-second mark, the video appears to depict a dynamical interaction between the contrasts of two different regions, with the initial object in the video fragmenting into a radial displacement pattern suggestive of a high-energy event.
Although not yet technically identified, video recorded by the F-16’s Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) shows that the UAP was actually a balloon. A clump of wires that may be tangled together can be seen hanging below the object, giving the impression of a single cable, although the payload or other attached objects are not readily visible. Moreover, the way the object appears to burst and break apart also seems to confirm that it was a balloon, although much is still unknown about its exact nature and purpose.
So the “mysterious” UAP, as UAPs are still popularly called, may have been a balloon-like object that will disappoint everyone hoping to see an exotic kind of UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) after all. It has almost the same effect as the image obtained and shared of the unidentified object shot down by a U.S. Air Force F-22 over the Yukon region in Canada on February 11, 2023. CTVNews.ca.
That grainy image, part of a larger Freedom of Information request, provided the first visual confirmation of the unidentified object. The object is described in the report as a “cylindrical” item with a metal top and dangling wires carrying a small payload. “Visual – cylindrical object (…) “The top quarter is metal, the rest is white. There’s a 20-foot piece of wire hanging down there, and there’s some kind of package hanging from it.”
In the end, we can only repeat what we have been saying since 2023. Regardless of the actual nature of the object, it is worth noting that images of at least these UAPs, or objects so described, are almost always of poor quality. This contrasts with the level of definition and detail that the current generation of sensors on front-line aircraft should be able to provide, somehow fueling speculation and making positive identification of objects much more difficult.
