--- title: "The Military Spent $1.5 Million Shooting Down Those Three Unidentified Objects" description: "The government is now admitting that it spend millions of taxpayer dollars getting three \"UFOs\" out of the sky that were almost definitely just balloons." date: "2023-02-23" modified: "2023-02-23" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-ufo-missiles-millions" categories: - "Military" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "the digest" - "the pentagon" - "uaps" - "ufos" --- # The Military Spent $1.5 Million Shooting Down Those Three Unidentified Objects ![The government is now admitting that it spend millions of taxpayer dollars getting three "UFOs" out of the sky that were almost definitely just balloons.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Ballooning Budget Remember those "[unidentified flying objects]()" the military recently shot down? The government is now admitting that it spent millions of taxpayer dollars getting them out of the sky — even though they were, per the intelligence community's assessment, probably just balloons. Government officials [told the *Wall Street Journal*]() that there was a $1.5 million price tag for the [four AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles]() the Pentagon authorized to shoot down the three objects, which President Joe Biden admitted last week may have been easy to identify after all. "The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research," [Biden said]() of the headline-grabbing unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). ## Cost Correction The *WSJ* notes that the $1.5 million figure only covers the cost of the missiles themselves, which run about $400,000 apiece, and not the costs for the American and Canadian military and civilian personnel used to investigate the debris from the objects in Alaska, Luke Huron, and Canada's Yukon territory (one of the missiles missed, [requiring the use of a fourth]().) The officials who spoke with the newspaper on condition of anonymity said the total price for downing those three not-UFOs will likely be hundreds of thousands of dollars more thanks to those investigative efforts. That figure notably also excludes the amount of money it cost the American taxpayer to down to the suspected Chinese "spy balloon," which was shot down by an [F-22 Raptor fighter jet](). While we obviously don't want there to be random unidentified *things* floating above America — or Canada, we guess? — these outrageous price tags beg an obvious question: is this what our ever-growing defense budget is used for? **More on actual UFOs:** [*The Pentagon Just Quietly Released a Report About Hundreds of New UFO Sightings*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()