White House spokesman John Kirby said the object was "the size of a small car" and was over a sparsely populated area when it was shot down.
The White House is reporting that a "high-altitude object" has been shot down over Alaska in the last hour.
Spokesman John Kirby said the object was "the size of a small car" and was over a sparsely populated area at the time.
President Joe Biden took the decision to shoot down the object, which was of unknown origin.
It comes after the US shot down a Chinese balloon over its territorial waters last Saturday.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr. Kirby explained that the object over Alaska was travelling at 40,000 ft and could have posed a threat to civilian aircraft.
He added that its debris field was "much smaller" than the balloon shot down last week off the coast of South Carolina.
Intelligence officials became aware of the object on Thursday evening.
He said a fighter jet had approached the object and assessed it was unmanned, and this information was available to Mr. Biden when he made his decision.
Officials have not yet determined whether the object was involved in surveillance.
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