US military shoots down ‘car-sized’ object off Alaska coast

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House (Susan Walsh/AP)

The US military has shot down an unknown object flying in US airspace off the coast of Alaska, White House officials said.

The object was flying at about 40,000ft on Friday and posed a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights, said John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman.

Mr Kirby said that President Joe Biden ordered the military to down the object, which he described as roughly the size of a small car.

The object fell into US waters.

The remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina (Chad Fish via AP)

The development comes after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday.

Officials are still recovering debris from that object, which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.