FAA temporarily closed airspace above Lake Michigan due to 'national defense' amid reports of a hovering 'object'
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- The Federal Aviation Administration declared a "national defense airspace" over part of Lake Michigan.
- There was a flight restriction in the area on Sunday, but that had been abruptly lifted.
- Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale said Sunday that officials advised him that "there IS an object and it WAS NOT an anomaly."
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted airspace above Lake Michigan on Sunday for "national defense."
The FAA declared a "national defense airspace" over Lake Michigan, the agency said in a notice according to Fox News. The FAA said that it "briefly closed some airspace over Lake Michigan to support Department of Defense activities" in a statement to Insider on Sunday.
"The airspace has been reopened," the statement said.
The United States military also closed airspace in Montana on Saturday and sent fighter jets to investigate a "radar anomaly," according to Reuters. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said the pilots didn't see anything in the area of the corresponding radar hits, according to the outlet.
Montana Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale said on Twitter that he is in "constant communication" with officials who "advised me that they have confidence there IS an object, and it WAS NOT an anomaly."
—Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) February 12, 2023
Rosendale's office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
The closure of Lake Michigan's airspace follows the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by an F-22 off the coast of South Carolina last week. F-22 jets also shot down another unidentified object over Alaska on Friday. Then, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical" by Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand, was shot down over Canada.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Sunday that the US believes the objects shot down over Alaska and Canada were also balloons.
The US Department of Defense said that the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be working "very closely" to investigate the object shot down over Canada in a statement.