For the third day in a row and fourth time in just nine days, the United States has shot down an unidentified high-flying object.

美國連續第三天、僅僅九天內第四次地擊下不明飛行物體。

Today, it happened over Lake Huron, between Michigan and Canada.

它今天發生在密西根州與加拿大之間的休倫湖上空。

A senior administration official telling NBC News the unmanned object was detected over Montana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

一位高級政府官員告知 NBC 新聞這項無人操控的物件在蒙大拿州、威斯康辛州以及密西根上空被目擊。

And at the direction of President Biden, it was shot down.

它在拜登總統的指示之下被擊下了。

It was just yesterday afternoon that a US fighter jet took down another flying object over northern Canada,

昨天下午才有一部美國戰鬥機擊落另一個在加拿大北部上空的飛行物，

and the search is still on for what remains of whatever was shot down over Alaska on Friday.

而週五於阿拉斯加上空被擊落的物件殘骸搜尋工作仍在進行中。

This string of events raising so many questions:

這一系列的事件引起了許多問題：

Are these all spy balloons similar to the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina last weekend?

這些都是類似上週末在南卡羅來納州被擊落的中國氣球類似的間諜氣球嗎？

Are these a new threat?

這些是新威脅嗎？

Or is the US just tracking them more closely now?

還是只是因為美國現在更密切地追蹤它們？

Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding more information from the Biden administration.

兩黨的一些立法人士都在要求拜登政府提供更多資訊。

We have two reports tonight; let's start with Monica Alba at the White House.

我們今晚有兩則報導，我們先從 Monica Alba 來自白宮的報導開始。

Tonight, the US military shooting down another high-altitude, unidentified flying object.

今晚，美國軍方擊落了另一部高海拔的不明飛行物。

This time, over Lake Huron.

這次是在休倫湖上空。

The Pentagon saying in a statement, the object "flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites" and assessed it was "a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities".

美國國防部聲明中表示，該物體「飛行至國防部上空敏感範圍」並評估其「潛在的監測能力會造成飛安恐慌及威脅」。

The FAA issuing a temporary flight restriction over nearby Lake Michigan earlier Sunday afternoon, citing Department of Defense activities,

美國聯邦航空總署根據國防部活動於週日下午稍早發布了近密西根湖上空的臨時飛行限制，

coming just hours after airspace was restricted over Montana Saturday night for the same reason, initially assessed as a "radar anomaly",

這發生在蒙大拿州上空因同樣理由進行限制僅僅數小時後，而它一開始被評估為「雷達異常」。

Then, I think, it got dark last night, so they couldn't fully check it out.

我想昨晚接著天色變暗，所以他們無法徹底勘查。

as new details emerge about the flying object shot down by the US over northern Canada Saturday.

隨著週六加拿大北部上空飛行物被美國擊落更多新細節的浮現。

An F-22 taking out a small cylindrical objected first spotted in American airspace Friday.

一架 F-22 戰鬥機擊落於週五初次在美國上空被目擊的小型圓柱形物品。

A carefully-coordinated mission between the two countries.

兩個國家間非常小心協調的任務。

This was the first time that a NORAD operation has downed an aerial object.

這是美國北美防空司令部首次擊落一件高空物品。

The object was flying at an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet, had unlawfully entered Canadian airspace, and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.

這個物體飛行在約 4 萬英尺的海拔、非法地進入了加拿大空域，並合理推測可能對民航機安全造成威脅。

We're always going to detect, and we're always going to defend our airspace.

我們會持續偵測、持續捍衛我們的空域。

Saturday's military operation came just a day after the President authorized the US to take aim at another unidentified object off the coast of Alaska,

週六的軍事行動發生在拜登總統授權擊落阿拉斯加沿岸另一部不明飛行物的一天內，

where those tasked with recovering debris are battling severe windchill and limited daylight,

在當地進行殘骸搜集任務的團隊正對抗著嚴重寒風與有限日光，

as a bipartisan call for transparency from the White House and Pentagon grows louder.

而兩黨對於白宮以及國防部透明的訴求聲浪也越變越大。

In the absence of information, people's anxiety leads them into potentially destructive areas.

在缺乏資訊的狀況下，人們的焦慮感可能會帶領他們進入具毀滅性的狀態。

So, I do hope that, very soon, the administration has a lot more information for all of us on what's going on.

所以我希望政府很快可以提供現況的資訊給所有人。

I would prefer them to be trigger-happy than to be permissive.

與其寬容以待，我倒希望他們願意動武。

This shows some of the problems and gaps that we have; we need to fill those as soon as possible.

這顯示了我們現在面對的問題與分歧，我們必須盡快地解決。

'Cause we certainly, now, ascertain there is a threat.

因為我們現在可以確信有威脅。

And Monica joins us now; what else do we know about the object shot down today?

Monica 現在加入我們：對於今天被擊落的飛行物，我們還知道什麼事？

Well, Kate, President Biden authorized an F-16 fighter jet to take it out this afternoon,

嗯，Kate，拜登總統今天下午授權一部 F-16 戰鬥機將它擊落，

and a US official tells me it appeared to be octagon-shaped, with strings hanging off of it. Kate.

一位美國官員告訴，它似乎是八角形、並垂掛了一些繩子。Kate，鏡頭回給你。

Monica Alba, thank you.

Monica Alba，謝謝你。

Let's get right to our Pentagon correspondent Courtney Kube; she's been following all of this from the beginning.

我們現在把鏡頭轉給我們在國防部的記者 Courtney Kube，她從一開始就追蹤著相關消息。

Courtney, what could these objects possibly be?

Courtney，這些物體可能是什麼？

So, we only know about the first one, that that was a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon.

我們目前只知道第一個是中國的高海拔監視氣球。

The other three are smaller; it's not clear who owns them.

其它三個較小，其所有者還不明確。

And we don't even really know what they were doing; whether it was surveillance or something else.

我們甚至不太確定它們在做什麼，是在監視或是做其它事情。

We do know that the US would take a couple (of) things into account when deciding whether to shoot them down.

我們所知的是，美國在決定是否擊落它們前，會考量幾件事情。

One is whether they pose a threat to civilian or military aviation.

其一是，它們是否對於民航或是軍事飛行活動造成威脅。

The next is, do they pose a threat to people on the ground?

其二是，它們對於地面上的人民是否有威脅？

And then, finally, do they pose some sort of a general national threat?

最後是，它們是否構成某種整體性國家威脅？

Those would've been taken into consideration when deciding to take it down.

這些都是在決策是否擊落時會做的考量。

And the biggest question everyone has:

所有人最大的疑惑都是：

Is there some kind of increase in the number of flying objects right now, or were they always there and the military is just finding them?

現在的飛行物數量是否有某種提升，還是它們一直都在，只是軍方現在才發現它們？

That's also not clear.

那也不明確。

We know that the US military, now, is looking at a wider range of radar data, so, they may just be seeing more of these things than they have in the past.

我們知道美國軍方現在正在觀察更大範圍的雷達數據，所以他們可能只是因此比過往看到更多此類物件。

But it's not clear whether now, recently, they're moving more into US airspace and that's causing the concern,

但現在還不明朗的是，它們是更往美國空域靠近並引起擔憂，

or whether this is just an entirely new phenomenon just in the recent days.

抑或那只是在近幾天內才有的全新現象。

Courtney Kube, thank you so much.

Courtney Kube，非常感謝你。

Thanks for watching our YouTube channel; follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.

謝謝各位觀看我們的 YouTube 頻道，下載 NBC 新聞的應用程式以追蹤今日頭條新聞與最新消息。