The US military shot down a fourth flying object over North American airspace in a week on Sunday over Lake Huron in Michigan, confirmed the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

The high-altitude unidentified object was the third to be downed by US and Canadian fighter jets in as many days, starting with a vessel about the size of a small car off the coast of Alaska on Friday, followed by a similar flying object over Yukon in Canada on Saturday. On 4 February, a large balloon which has been claimed by China was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Shortly before news broke of the Lake Huron intervention, a Democratic Congress member from Michigan, Elissa Slotkin, revealed that she had heard from the US department of defense that the US military was keeping “an extremely close eye” on movements in that area. “Just got a call from [the defense department],” she posted on Twitter. “Be assured that all parties have been laser-focused on it from the moment it traversed our waters.”

Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said on Twitter that federal officials were “tracking an object near [the state’s] airspace”.

“I’m glad to report it has been swiftly, safely and securely taken down,” Whitmer’s tweet added.

Earlier in the day the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had restricted civilian air traffic over Lake Michigan, as there were local reports of military jets in the area, but lifted them after a brief time. The FAA didn’t immediately say why it put the restrictions in place.

More details soon …