Lake Huron: F-16C engages and downs an unidentified object

On February 12, 2023, a U.S. Air National Guard F-16C fighter engaged and downed an unidentified airborne object over Lake Huron, Michigan — the third of four shootdowns U.S. fighters conducted that month against unidentified airborne objects in the immediate aftermath of the Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon incident over the continental United States.

PURSUE Release 02 includes the previously-unreleased cockpit/sensor footage of the engagement under the designator DOW-UAP-PR071. The 46-second infrared clip from the F-16C shows the targeting sensor locking onto an area of contrast at the 11-second mark; at the 20-second mark the footage records what AARO's mission report calls 'a kinetic interaction between two distinct areas of contrast, with the initial subject of the footage fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern that suggests a high-energy event.' The object visible just before impact is roughly spherical with a thin line dangling below — a profile AARO has previously characterized as 'most likely a benign hobbyist or research balloon.' The case is officially considered resolved.

Even with the resolution status, the public release of the engagement footage matters: it is the first time the U.S. government has placed the full Lake Huron engagement video on the public record, and it constitutes a rare instance of declassified visual evidence from a successful U.S. fighter intercept of an unidentified object over the continental United States.