The first missile fired by an F-16 pilot at an unidentified object flying over Lake Huron earlier this week missed the target and crashed harmlessly into the water, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated Tuesday, noting the danger that would have arose should the Air Force tried to shoot down the object over land, CBS News reports. The second shot destroyed the target.
The third of four unknown objects shot down by the US military in the past two weeks, the Lake Huron object was flying lower than the one that transited the US and was destroyed over the ocean off the coast of South Carolina. “We’re very, very careful to make sure that those shots are, in fact, safe, and that’s the guidance from the president: shoot it down but make sure we minimize collateral damage and we preserve the safety of the American people,” Milley said.