"I can confirm that the Department of Defense has been monitoring a high-altitude object in Alaska airspace for the past 24 hours," Kirby said at the briefing.
According to him, the object flew at an altitude of 12 km and posed a danger to civilian aircraft.
He noted that US President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down the object, the order was carried out.
Kirby added that the object fell on ice in US territorial waters.
On February 4, the US military shot down a Chinese balloon.
China called such a move excessive.
According to the Pentagon, the balloon was used to monitor US strategic facilities.