An unidentified airplane flew into protected air space over a Donald Trump reelection campaign event in Arizona on Tuesday. An F-16 fighter jet scrambled to intercept the invading aircraft and deployed signal flares to warn it away from the event.
As Arizonan rally goers gathered around Trump at his most recent campaign gathering, they looked up as an F-16 fighter jet flew overhead. As it deployed smoke flares, Trump praised its performance and hyped up the event as if it were in honor of him. Little did they know that the jet’s true purpose was purely defensive, having shot flares to stave off any heat-seeking missiles shot by a flying object that entered the vicinity.
On Wednesday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) clarified what occurred in a series of tweets, the first read, “At approx. 1400 MDT, NORAD F-16 aircraft investigated a general aviation aircraft that was not in communication with ATC and entered the Temporary Flight Restriction area surrounding Bullhead City, AZ without proper clearance.”
The second statement went on to say, “the violating aircraft was non-responsive to initial intercept procedures, but established radio communications after NORAD aircraft deployed signal flares. The aircraft was escorted out of the restricted area by the NORAD aircraft without further incident.”
NORAD spokesman John Cornelio told CNN, “The violating aircraft was non-responsive to initial intercept procedures, but established radio communications after NORAD aircraft deployed signal flares,” said the NORAD spokesman. “The violating aircraft was escorted out of the restricted area by the NORAD aircraft without further incident.”
The identity of the pilot of the mysterious plane hasn’t been released to the press.
