The Pentagon said the order to shoot down immediately an unidentified "high-altitude airborne object" was given because it posed a threat to civilian aircraft as it was flying at 40,000 feet, but retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax Saturday he has doubts about that reasoning.
"What I don't like is the lack of credibility and the messaging as to why they took it down," Holt said Saturday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Just having it in at an altitude of 40,000 feet, where there's no air traffic anyway in this world, is not a safety play. Even in the United States, they just block out the airspace and say nobody's flying here."
The object, flying off the northern coast of Alaska, was shot down Friday on orders from President Joe Biden. It is being described as being roughly the size of a small car, much smaller than a Chinese spy balloon shot down last Saturday off the South Carolina coast after it flew over sensitive military sites nationwide.
But Holt said Saturday the official story about the takeout "is just not credible" because air traffic is controlled, particularly at that altitude.
"We call that the positive control area. And if there's something that's dangerous, then you just shut that part of the airspace down; you reroute the traffic," he said. "That's not very congested traffic up there. If there's one airplane, they can move it."
Meanwhile, the origins of the latest aircraft are not known, but it's likely to have been from China, said Holt.
"There was some sort of theory that this was a weather balloon, some sort of scientific device," said Holt. "If that were the case, I would expect the scientific agency behind it to start squawking pretty loudly about the loss of their airborne laboratory."
The size and shape of the device also are troubling, as "it's a very different mission and purpose than the other balloon that came, which they still have not answered for," said Holt. "We've got to peel back the onion on Chinese intent ... we've got to start reviewing the Chinese relationship and what steps are going to come now."
Holt also on Saturday discussed the recent North Korean military parade and called the exhibition a "visual symbol of the weakness America's had in its foreign policy and national security team" under Biden.
"You're looking at something as menacing as our failure in Afghanistan, as the failure with diplomacy with China, the European war. And now we see all these exercises with Iran and other rogue nations coming together," he said. "This is an example of how North Korea can hold any target at harm around the world. Very dangerous."
North Korea, China, Russia and Iran are "all working together" in the world's hotspots, Holt added.
"We're watching little minute events like balloons go by while the bigger picture is unfolding before our eyes," he said. "America and the West are under threat; free nations are under threat; and we don't see anybody getting out there diplomatically. We don't see anybody raising a stink. We want to do is talk about sending F-16s to Ukraine. That's a small, tiny piece of the puzzle while the whole thing is burning."
He acknowledged the North Koreans may be "boasting capabilities" and showing off fake weaponry in their parades, but said "the science is in their hands, and they are actively developing."
Holt further said he wants to know who is paying for North Korea's advances.
"The regime is weak," he said. "They're a royal totalitarian dictatorship ... it's getting a little crazy and very dangerous."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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