Alaska F-22 Shootdown — Unknown Object February 2023

On February 10, 2023, a US Air Force F-22 Raptor fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at an unidentified object detected at 40,000 feet off the coast of Deadhorse, Alaska. NORAD radar had tracked the object entering US airspace. The pilot described the object as cylindrical, roughly the size of a small car, moving at approximately 20,000 feet per hour with no visible means of propulsion. There was no cockpit, wings, or any aerodynamic structure visible. Recovery teams deployed to the Arctic waters found no identifiable debris. Two days later, on February 11, a Canadian CF-18 shot down a second unidentified object over Canada's Yukon Territory at 40,000 feet — also unrecovered. A third object was shot down over Lake Huron on February 12. The three shootdowns in four days represented an unprecedented public event in US-Canadian defense operations. The Pentagon's description of the February 10 Alaska object — cylindrical, no propulsion, 40,000 feet — was particularly notable because it did not match the profile of the Chinese high-altitude balloon shot down days earlier on February 4. The absence of recovered debris across all three shootdowns left their identity officially unresolved. The Biden administration ultimately indicated the three objects were likely benign, possibly commercial or research balloons, but no definitive identification was made.