While the initial Pentagon briefings could not definitively describe the latest "objects" shot down off of Alaska and Canada, national security officials are describing them now as balloons, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
"You can be sure that if any American interests where people are at risk, they'll take appropriate action," Schumer told ABC on Sunday, adding the objects shot down Friday and Saturday were much smaller than the first balloon that drifted over U.S. airspace and was shot down over South Carolina last Saturday.
The object shot down over Canada on Saturday is a "small metallic balloon with a tethered payload," according to a national security official.
There were descriptions of the "object" as being "cylindrical," as the device has been tracked for more than a day before it was shot down.
"President Biden spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on the unidentified, unmanned object in North American air space," the White House readout read Saturday. "The object was closely tracked and monitored by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) over the last 24 hours and the president has been continually briefed by his national security team since the object was detected.
"Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorized it to be taken down. President Biden authorized U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD to conduct the operation and a US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory in close coordination with Canadian authorities."
U.S. fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation.
"A U.S. F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory, using an AIM 9X missile following close coordination between U.S. and Canadian authorities," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.