The 2023 balloon shootdowns

The claim

"Fighter jets shot down four unknown objects in a week."

Where the idea comes from

After a Chinese surveillance balloon crossed the US, NORAD tuned its radars to see smaller, slower objects and shot down three more.

What the evidence shows

1. The first object was a Chinese surveillance balloon, shot down on 4 February 2023 and recovered from the Atlantic.
2. The three later objects (over Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron) were never recovered. The White House said they were most likely commercial or recreational balloons.
3. An amateur balloon club in Illinois reported losing a cheap balloon on a track matching the Yukon shootdown.
4. Changing the radar filters to catch small, slow objects meant many more harmless objects suddenly appeared.

What is still open

With no debris recovered from three of the four, their exact identity remains unconfirmed.

Our verdict

Explained Balloons, one of them a spy balloon.

Sources

• 2023 Chinese balloon incident (Wikipedia)

Checked 31 October 2026. Spotted a newer source? Tell us.