Live updates: White House says downed object probably in 'very deep' waters of Lake Huron

(WXYZ) — Military officials shot down an object over Lake Huron on Sunday, just hours after airspace was closed over Lake Michigan, U.S. officials said. Here is the latest information:

Monday

2:30 p.m.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday the objects were not extraterrestrial despite officials saying earlier that nothing could be ruled out.

The Pentagon has not disclosed what type of objects were shot down. However, the White House said they did not pose a threat to anyone on the ground.

White House coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said the three objects appeared vastly different than the balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

White House coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said they are working to try to recover what is left of the downed objects. 

The object shot down over Lake Huron “now lies in what is probably very deep water,” he said.

Kirby says NORAD is continuing to monitor the skies. 

“We are consulting with allies and partners on the challenge of identified aerial phenomenon and how we can all work together to deal with that challenge,” said Kirby. 

10:30 a.m.

At a news conference on Monday, Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Lake Huron has been choppy, making recovery efforts of the unidentified object that was downed on Sunday difficult.

"We do not know what it is right now," she said.

Rep. Slotkin said there has been a lot of theories and rumors floating around since the news broke over the weekend.

"I have no reason to believe this is a UFO … chances are this is just a normal, run-of-the-mill thing that we in the intelligence community know how to exploit," she said.  

Rep. Slotkin talked a bit about the process of exploitation and how usually objects are taken to a classified facility and intelligence experts begin looking at everything from how it was mobilized to whether it had surveillance packages, equipment origins and more.

She said the object was not a threat to national security.

Sunday

7:25 p.m.

The Pentagon held a briefing on Sunday night to speak about the decision to shoot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron waters, the third time an unidentified object was shot down in the last three days.

According to Pentagon officials, the object was shot down about 15 miles off-shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, in Lake Huron. Officials say recovery efforts are underway and it's most likely in Canadian waters.

The Pentagon did not say if the object that was shot down was a balloon, and said they do not know where it came from.

"We are calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason," he said.

The officials said that these incidents are the first time in American history that shoot downs have happened over the United States.

5:54 p.m.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command released this statement

"Today at 2:42 p.m., at the direction of President Biden, and based on the recommendations of Secretary Austin and military leadership, an F-16 fired an AIM9x to successfully shoot down an airborne object flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the State of Michigan.

Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation. The location chosen for this shoot down afforded us the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery.

There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected. North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object Sunday morning and has maintained visual and radar tracking of it.

Based on its flight path and data we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites. We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities. Our team will now work to recover the object in an effort to learn more."

5:00 p.m.

Officials tell ABC News that the object shot down over Lake Huron was the same object spotted over Montana on Saturday and moved over Wisconsin and Michigan on Sunday.

Those officials say the unmanned object was at around 20,000 feet, and its path and altitude raised concern that it could be a hazard to civilian aviation.

President Joe Biden directed the military to be shot down, and it presented as an octagonal structure with strings hanging off.

That official said they did not assess it to be a military threat to anything on the ground, and they are working to recover it to learn more.

4:22 p.m.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted that she is in contact with the federal government and other partners tracking the object.

She tweeted, "Our national security and safety is always a top priority. I’ve been in contact with the federal government and our partners who were tracking an object near our airspace. I’m glad to report it has been swiftly, safely, and securely taken down. The Michigan National Guard stands ready.

4:05 p.m.

Military officials shot down an object over Lake Huron, just hours after airspace was closed over Lake Michigan, U.S. officials confirm to ABC News.

Earlier this afternoon, the FAA said it was closing airspace over the northern part of Lake Michigan to "support Department of Defense activities," but opened the airspace shortly after the closure.

Just before 4 p.m., officials confirmed to ABC News that the military shot an unidentified object over Lake Huron.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin tweeted around 3:15 p.m. "our military has an extremely close eye on the object above Lake Huron," and that we'll know more in the coming days. She tweeted an update just before 4 p.m. that it was shot down.

It comes just one day after the FAA shut down airspace over Montana and as a U.S. warplane shot down an object flying at high altitude over Canada.

The object was the third known to have violated North American airspace in the past two weeks.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon spent nearly a week flying through Canada and U.S. airspace before it was shot down by U.S. warplanes off South Carolina last Sunday.

The U.S. military shot down a second object in Alaskan airspace Friday, though authorities have not provided details on what it was.

According to U.S. Northern Command, recovery operations continued Saturday both near Deadhorse, Alaska, and off South Carolina.

In a statement, the Northern Command said there were no new details on what the object was that a U.S. fighter jet shot down over Alaska. It said the Alaska Command and the Alaska National Guard, along with the FBI and local law enforcement, were conducting search and recovery.