Month: February 2023

U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets shot down an object flying over Lake Huron on Sunday. It is the fourth aerial object to be shot down over North America, and the third object over the United States in nine days, begining on Feb. 4 when a U.S. fighter jet downed a high-altitude surveillance balloon believed to be part of a near-global China spying campaign. China maintains that the balloon shot down on Feb. 4 was an unmanned civilian airship that veered off course into U.S. airspace.

In a statement Sunday evening, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed the shoot down, saying the unidentified object was flying at about 20,000 feet over Lake Huron in Michigan when it was felled by a Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile at 2:42 p.m. EST.

Though only the first object shot down has been publicly identified as a spy balloon deployed by China, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday that two other objects downed over Alaska on Friday and Canada’s northwestern Yukon territory on Saturday were likely similar balloons. Ryder said the path and altitude of the object downed Sunday posed a threat to civil aviation and it was shot over Lake Michigan in an effort to avoid debris hitting civilians and structures. Said Ryder: “There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected.”

NORAD  had first detected the object Saturday. A “radar anomaly” had been picked it up, with officials stating the object had flown in proximity to sensitive Defense Department sites.  The Pentagon said Sunday: “We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety 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.”

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The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38–35 victory, with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes crowned as the MVP of Super Bowl LVII on Sunday night.

The 27-year-old Mahomes claimed his second career Super Bowl MVP after finishing 21-of-27 for 182 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. After trailing most of the game, Mahomes led Kansas City to a comeback victory.

The stellar performance from Mahomes came despite appearing to re-aggravate a right ankle injury he previously sustained in the divisional round; he hobbled off to the Chiefs’ sideline in noticeable pain and grimaced as he sat on the bench and spoke to the training staff. In the second half, K.C. outscored Philly following four scores on all four of their drives. The two-time MVP tossed two more down the stretch to keep even with the Eagles with a 35-35 score before kicker Harrison Butker followed a big Eagles holding penalty with a 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left to clinch the franchise’s third ever Vince Lombardi Trophy.

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Rihanna made her return to live performing on Sunday during the Super Bowl LVII Halftime show, treating fans to a medley of a dozen of her best-known songs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.  The superstar also revealed another surprise; a baby bump.  Following Rihanna’s performance, a rep for the artist confirmed that she is pregnant with her second child.

Wearing a red jumpsuit over a tight-fitting latex bandeau, Rihanna opened the show with her 2015 song “[____] Better Have My Money” as she was lowered down to the stage on one of several floating platforms that she and her backup dancers used throughout the show. At the ground-level stage, Rihanna was accompanied by dozens of dancers dressed in all-white jumpsuits. Other hit songs followed, including with “Where Have You Been?,” “Only Girl in the World,” “We Found Love,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” “Wild Thoughts,” “Pour It Up” and “All of the Lights,” and a band joined the performance during the final three songs of the night — “Run This Town,” “Umbrella” and “Diamonds, ” as fireworks erupted from the stadium.

Despite speculation, Rihanna had no surprise guests join her on stage – unlike other recent Super Bowl halftime performances. Prior to the show, Rihanna was tight-lipped about her performance, telling reporters: “It’s a lot of preparation. This is the week that everything is being tested. Everyone is just tightening up. Everybody’s dialing in. Everybody’s tuning up … It’s literally like 300 to 400 people breaking the stage down, building it up and getting out in 8 minutes. It’s incredible. It’s almost impossible.”

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