China claims it was preparing to shoot down an 'unidentified flying object' near important naval base

A Chinese state media outlet claimed that officials had spotted an "unidentified flying object" over the Yellow Sea in China, near the city of Rizhao, and were preparing to shoot it down.

The Global Times News announced on Twitter that maritime authorities had identified the object near the city of approximately three million, warning fisherman in the area to exercise caution: "Local maritime authorities in East China's Shandong Province announced on Sunday that they had spotted an unidentified flying object in waters near the coastal city of Rizhao in the province and were preparing to shoot it down, reminding fishermen to be safe via messages," the tweet reads.

According to Fox News, another state-owned outlet called the Paper said that the object was spotted near the city of Qingdao. A marine development authority told the outlet that "relevant authorities" were preparing to shoot down the object.

If true, the object would be near one of China's most important naval bases, the Jianggezhuang Naval Base, which is located just 15 miles off the coast of Qingdao in the Yellow Sea. The base is home to multiple classes of submarines including nuclear-powered submarines, according to unclassified documents from the CIA.

After the United States Navy recovered wreckage from a Chinese spy balloon in the Atlantic Ocean, a series of unidentified objects reportedly have been shot down in North American airspace.

North American Aerospace Defense Command announced that it was monitoring a "high-altitude airborne object over Northern Canada" before F-22 jets were used to shoot it down.

The military announced the following day that another object had been shot down over Lake Huron, suggesting that there were more objects in the sky that the public had not known about. The air operation resulted in temporary flight restrictions in the areas over the Great Lakes.

Yet another unidentified object was shot down over Alaskan airspace, with even more mystery surrounding the activities.

The aerial craft that was shot down ten miles off the coast of Alaska had "no identifiable propulsion" and interfered with the sensors of the U.S. military fighter jets that engaged with the aircraft.

Speaking to ABC, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that "until a few months ago we didn't know about these balloons."

"It is wild that we didn't know," Schumer said, adding that the "military and the intelligence are focused like a laser on first gathering and accumulating the information, then coming up with a comprehensive analysis."

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