Chinese authorities said they were preparing to shoot down an 'unidentified flying object' spotted near the Yellow Sea

• Chinese authorities said they have spotted an unidentified flying object and are preparing to shoot it down.
• The object was spotted over the city of Rizhao on the Yellow Sea, authorities said.

Local authorities in China's eastern Shandong province said on Sunday that they had spotted an unidentified flying object and were preparing to shoot it down, according to The Global Times, China's state-affiliated tabloid.

The object was spotted near the coastal city of Rizhao on the Yellow Sea, and authorities reminded fishermen to be safe, said the state media outlet.

The announcement comes a week after the United States military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been seen floating over the US and parts of Canada.

The Chinese government criticized the US for shooting down the balloon last week, having previously said that it was a civilian airship used mainly for "meteorological research" that had been blown off course.

However, Pentagon officials said it was "being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

Pentagon officials later said that a second suspected Chinese surveillance balloon had been spotted over Latin America on Thursday.

The saga of unidentified objects has since continued, as on Friday, the US shot down another unidentified object flying approximately 40,000 feet over Alaska, and on Saturday, another unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada.