The temporary flight restriction that was in place over Lake Michigan to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operations has been lifted on Sunday (local time), according to NORAD press release.
"With the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) implemented a temporary flight restriction aerospace over Lake Michigan at approximately 12 pm EST on Feb 12, 2023, to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations. The temporary flight restrictions have since been lifted," added the release.
Earlier, the airspace over Lake Michigan was temporarily restricted due to national defense reasons, according to a US Federal Aviation Administration notice.
The notice said the airspace was being restricted for "national defense" reasons. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon or the FAA.
Notably, the closure of the airspace comes after the shootdown by US aircraft of a Chinese spy balloon and two unidentified flying objects.
According to the FAA's Sunday announcement, pilots who fail to comply with the specified procedure may be intercepted, detained, and questioned by law enforcement or security personnel. The FAA also warned that such pilots may be met with deadly force in the air, reported Fox News.
Meanwhile, Canadian investigators are hunting for the wreckage of the mysterious flying object shot down by a US fighter jet over Yukon territory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday, as the US Senate's top lawmaker said that it - and another flying object shot down off the coast of Alaska - both appeared to be balloons.
"Recovery teams are on the ground, looking to find and analyze the object," Trudeau told reporters. He gave no hint as to what it was but said it "represented a reasonable threat to the security of civilian flight."
"The security of citizens is our top priority and that's why I made the decision to have that unidentified object shot down," he said.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer provided a bit more detail to US broadcaster ABC, saying that American national security officials believe the object destroyed over Canada - as well as another flying object shot over the sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska on Friday - were both balloons.
"They believe they were (balloons), yes, but much smaller than the first one," Schumer said, referring to the balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina last Saturday - a big, white, eye-catching inflatable whose trip across the US airspace at the beginning of the month sparked an international incident.
The White House said only that the recently downed objects "did not closely resemble" the Chinese balloon, echoing Schumer's description of them as "much smaller."
American officials have accused the Chinese of using the 200-foot-tall (60-meter-high) balloon for surveillance. China's government has said it was a civilian research vessel that went off course and has condemned its destruction.
US officials have been scouring the ocean to recover debris and electronic gadgetry since the original balloon's destruction. Schumer said he was confident US investigators would get to the bottom of what it was being used for.
( With inputs from ANI )
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