The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) quickly closed down a section of airspace above northern Michigan this past Sunday in order to support an ongoing national defense situation.
This closed airspace, which was marked as “national defense airspace,” was situated over the northern section of Lake Michigan.
NEW: A new NOTAM has been posted and a Temporary Flight Restriction enacted until further notice in far northern Lake Michigan. This is once again National Defense Airspace.#balloongate continued? pic.twitter.com/BbN4WIRD3K
— Nick Stewart (@NStewCBS2) February 12, 2023
Both the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command put out a joint statement in which they explained that the temporary flight restriction was set up as a way “to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations.”
Just a little bit after this report was made public, the FAA officially canceled the restrictions and reopened the airspace.
Reuters: FAA: TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS ON AIRSPACE ABOVE LAKE MICHIGAN HAVE BEEN CANCELLED
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) February 12, 2023
The situation took place after the U.S. Military shot down a still unidentified flying object in the air over Alaska this past Friday and a second in the air over Canada on Saturday.
The FAA sent the very same alert out this past Saturday evening in which it marked an area over the northern part of Montana as a “national defense airspace,” stating that anyone who attempted to enter the airspace would be promptly intercepted.
As part of a joint statement, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Northern Command spoke up about the ongoing incident over Montana.
“NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate,” read the statement. “Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation.”
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) expressed as part of a social media post this past Sunday evening that he had been officially informed that there had been an object moving through the airspace of Montana and that it was actually not “an anomaly.”
“I am in constant communication with NORCOM and they have just advised me that they have confidence there IS an object and it WAS NOT an anomaly,” he continued on to state. “I am waiting now to receive visual confirmation. Our nation’s security is my priority.”
I am in constant communication with NORCOM and they have just advised me that they have confidence there IS an object and it WAS NOT an anomaly. I am waiting now to receive visual confirmation. Our nation’s security is my priority.
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) February 12, 2023
