Residents in northern Guam captured a bright object in the skies over the island Tuesday night.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command confirmed an Aegis Guam System missile intercept test was conducted overnight as part of an exercise called Sling Stone.

The tactical training event is said to hone skills, increase interoperability, and improve communication and understanding between forces while also coordinating with civil authorities to train for a whole-of-government approach to crisis response.

During the exercise, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Guam National Guard Adjutant Gen. Mike Cruz and other senior military leaders monitored the standard Missile-3 Block IIA from the Joint Region Marianas Regional Operations Center, as it intercepted a surrogate medium range ballistic missile target off the coast of Guam during the Missile Defense Agency’s flight experiment mission (FEM-02).

The surrogate medium range ballistic missile was air-launched from an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III and was intercepted more than 200 nautical miles off the coast of northeast Guam.

Simultaneously, the Navy’s Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69), operating off the coast of Guam, detected, tracked, and simulated engagement of the missile, providing air defense coverage from the sea. Task Force Talon, the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense unit located on Guam, also received missile tracking information. The THAAD battery provides ballistic missile defense coverage for the entire island. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maya-class guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro (DDG 180) exercised its air defense support, increasing interoperability between international forces and fostering a broader-spectrum, shared information environment.

“The success of Sling Stone is a testament to the incredible work our joint-service team does every day to maintain a strong defensive posture in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander, Joint Task Force Micronesia. “Leveraging MDA’s missile intercept test to train how we fight just made sense. We will take lessons learned and continue to strengthen the architecture of Guam’s defense against evolving adversary missile threats.” Sling Stone also provided an opportunity for the military and Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense to rehearse the notification process and increase crisis-response readiness to better serve the community. FEM-02 is part of the long-term initiative for the defense of Guam and will inform the larger effort to develop, install and operate Guam Defense System, which is comprised of a combination of Army, Navy, Air Force and MDA components that work together to provide Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense.

The military said these defense entities will develop and deploy a persistent layered missile defense system for Guam.