"Oh no" 500 Million Won Missile Miss... US Top Gun's "Humiliation"

Shooting Down Unidentified Flying Object After 'Jeongchal Balloon'
One Air-to-Air Missile AIM-9 Worth Approximately $400,000 Deployed

"The moment a fighter pilot fired a nearly $500,000 Sidewinder missile with a roar was closer to 'oops' than the movie 'Top Gun'"

AFP pointed this out while reporting that a U.S. military F-16 fighter jet failed to shoot down an unarmed 'unidentified aerial phenomenon' in one shot over its own airspace on the 12th (local time), wasting a missile worth about 500 million won.

Movie 'Top Gun' still cut
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

On the 14th (local time), John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator, stated in a briefing, "The first missile fired on the 12th missed the target, and it is believed that this missile immediately fell into the lake." Mark Milley, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also explained that the missed missile "fell harmlessly into the lake."

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that on the 12th, an Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down an 'octagonal structure' with an AIM-9 air-to-air missile about 6,000 meters above Lake Huron in Michigan.

At that time, following the Chinese 'reconnaissance balloon' incident, aerial objects were discovered across the U.S. mainland, increasing public calls for shootdowns. Authorities actually shot down these objects and heavily publicized the events. However, the fact that the last target over Lake Huron was missed was completely omitted from the announcement.

The short-range air-to-air missile AIM-9 is nicknamed "Sidewinder" (a type of rattlesnake) because its launch resembles the writhing movement of a snake.
[Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

The AIM-9, a representative short-range air-to-air missile, is nicknamed 'Sidewinder' (a type of rattlesnake) because its launch resembles a snake writhing. The price is at least $400,000 (about 500 million won) per missile.

Meanwhile, the unidentified aerial phenomenon that required the U.S. military to fire two of these missiles has been revealed to pose no significant security threat, fueling further controversy.

Kirby, the Strategic Communications Coordinator, recently said about the series of aerial objects shot down by the U.S. military, "They could be completely harmless balloons related to commercial or research organizations," adding, "This hypothesis is the most plausible explanation."