The United States says one of its fighter jets has shot down an object flying over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border.

The incident marks the fourth time this month the US military has downed airborne objects.

The Defense Department said in a statement on Sunday that an F-16 fighter jet downed the flying object on President Joe Biden's order.

The statement said the object was traveling at an altitude of about 6,000 meters, posing a danger to civil aviation.

According to defense officials, the military detected the object on Sunday morning and began monitoring it. A fighter jet then shot it down over the lake in the afternoon to prevent potential casualties and to facilitate recovery of the wreckage.

They said there were no indications of civilians hurt or otherwise affected.

The Pentagon said although the object did not pose a military threat, it might have had surveillance capabilities.

Earlier, a US fighter jet shot down a Chinese balloon off South Carolina on February 4. Unidentified objects flying over Alaska and Canada were also shot down on Friday and Saturday, respectively.