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The latest events on the record: hearings, official reports, releases and reported encounters. Each one links to its sources.
Government17 Feb 2023
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles told Nine's Today show that Defence had advised there had been no balloons like the Chinese one shot down over the U.S. in Australian airspace, and that Australia could track and deal with any such balloon.
Photo: Commonwealth of Australia - Department of Defence, CC BY 4.0
Government16 Feb 2023
After U.S. jets downed three objects over Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron, President Biden said they were most likely private or research balloons. He ordered an inventory of airborne objects, better detection and new classified rules on when to shoot.
Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Chloe Shanes, Public domain
Government16 Feb 2023
Japan's ruling LDP and Komeito approved a government plan on Feb. 16, 2023 to relax rules on using weapons against unmanned objects violating Japanese airspace. It followed the Defense Ministry's statement that objects seen in 2019-2021 were strongly suspected to be Chinese spy balloons.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0
Military16 Feb 2023
Troops on Taiwan's Dongyin island saw an object fall and found balloon wreckage on a shooting range. Markings identified it as a radiosonde made by a Chinese radio factory, and the army called it a weather instrument, amid the U.S.-China spy balloon dispute.
Photo: Datou Jiazu (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0
Military14 Feb 2023
After re-analyzing balloon-shaped objects seen over Japan in November 2019, June 2020 and September 2021, Japan's Defense Ministry said they were strongly presumed to be unmanned Chinese reconnaissance balloons. Tokyo protested to Beijing, which objected to the attribution.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0
Military14 Feb 2023
Romania's defence ministry said radar picked up a small target resembling a weather balloon at about 11,000 m over the southeast on Feb. 14, 2023. Two NATO-assigned MiG-21 LanceR jets searched for about 30 minutes but found nothing visually or on radar.
Photo: claudiu_ne2000, CC BY-SA 2.0
Government14 Feb 2023
Moldova's civil aviation authority closed the country's airspace for about 80 minutes on Feb. 14, 2023 after the defence ministry reported a small object resembling a weather balloon over the north near Ukraine. Officials said poor weather kept them from identifying or tracking it.
Photo: My_another_account, CC0
Sightings14 Feb 2023
Three cameras of INAF's PRISMA network recorded a bright fireball over southern Italy on the evening of February 14, 2023. Fragments that chipped a tile on a family balcony north of Matera were recovered days later, guided by PRISMA's predicted fall area.
Photo: Gianfralos, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government13 Feb 2023
Opening a briefing after U.S. jets downed three objects, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there was no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity. NSC spokesman John Kirby added that Americans did not need to worry about aliens.
Photo: The White House, Public domain
Government13 Feb 2023
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Feb. 13, 2023 that U.S. high-altitude balloons had entered China's airspace more than ten times since early 2022. The White House National Security Council called the claim false.
Photo: China News Service, CC BY 3.0
Sightings13 Feb 2023
Astronomer Krisztian Sarneczky in Hungary spotted a small asteroid hours before it hit, only the seventh found before impact. It entered the atmosphere at 02:59 UTC over the English Channel as forecast, fireball cameras recorded it, and meteorites were later recovered in Normandy.
Photo: Wokege, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government13 Feb 2023
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Feb. 13, 2023 that the UK and its allies would review what the North American airspace intrusions meant for British security. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the country had capabilities such as quick-reaction Typhoon jets to keep it safe.
Photo: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0
Military12 Feb 2023
At a Pentagon briefing on the objects downed over North America, a reporter asked Gen. Glen VanHerck whether aliens had been ruled out. He said he would leave that to intelligence agencies and had not ruled anything out. The White House said the next day there was no indication of aliens.
Photo: U.S. Northern Command, Public domain
Military12 Feb 2023
On Feb. 12, 2023, the FAA closed airspace over part of Lake Michigan for about two hours 'in support of' Defense Department activities, and NORAD said it imposed the restriction for air-traffic safety. It came a day after a Montana closure and hours before an object was downed over Lake Huron.
Government12 Feb 2023
On Feb. 12, 2023, a maritime development office in Qingdao's Jimo District told fishermen an unidentified flying object had been spotted off Rizhao and that it was preparing to shoot it down. No follow-up official account said whether that happened.
Photo: Smainali3, CC BY 3.0
Government11 Feb 2023
Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said NORAD aircraft, on the prime minister's order, downed a small cylindrical object flying near 40,000 feet over central Yukon. She said recovery was under way with the military and RCMP and that its origin and purpose were unknown.
Photo: Tech. Sgt. Jack Sanders via U.S. Secretary of Defense, Public domain
Military10 Feb 2023
Days after downing a Chinese balloon, U.S. fighters shot down unidentified objects off northern Alaska (Feb. 10), over Canada's Yukon (Feb. 11) and over Lake Huron (Feb. 12). President Biden later said they were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research.
Government10 Feb 2023
The Bureau of Industry and Security added six Chinese entities to the Entity List, citing support for PLA aerospace programs including airships and balloons. The rule said the PLA uses high-altitude balloons for intelligence and reconnaissance.
Photo: U.S. Department of Commerce, Public domain
Government9 Feb 2023
The House passed H.Res. 104, sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul, 419-0. It condemned the Chinese government's high-altitude surveillance balloon as a brazen violation of U.S. sovereignty and asked for briefings on past airspace intrusions.
Photo: U.S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk, Public domain
Government9 Feb 2023
At a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing, Pentagon official Melissa Dalton said Chinese balloons had briefly crossed the U.S. at least three times under the prior administration. Officials said they waited to shoot over water to limit risk from debris.
Photo: Leonard Fitzgerald, Public domain
