Feb. 16 (UPI) — President Joe Biden said Thursday the three latest mysterious objects shot down over North America were likely not Chinese spy balloons.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were,” Biden said in a nationally televised address. “But nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country.”
The U.S. military has shot down four objects in the past two weeks. The first was identified by U.S. intelligence as a Chinese surveillance balloon. It was taken down off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 4 after drifting over a large swath of the nation.
Biden said the three latest objects are believed to have belonged to private companies or recreation or research institutions studying weather or other issues.
When Biden took office, he said he called for more research on the phenomenon of unidentified aerial objects. On Thursday, he said there is no indication that there has been an uptick in UAOs, but they are being discovered more frequently because of the United States’ enhanced efforts and better radar detection.
The president has been criticized for his handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon. But Biden said Thursday he was advised by the military not to shoot it down over land because it was the size of multiple school buses.
“I’ve directed my team to come back to me with sharper rules for how we will deal with these unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not,” Biden said.
China has denied that the first balloon was being used for nefarious purposes and called the U.S. response an overreaction.
Biden said the United States continues to be engaged in conversations with China while it analyzes the wreckage of the surveillance balloon. He said the United States seeks competition with China, not “conflict.”
“I expect to be speaking with President Xi [Jinping] and I hope we will get to the bottom of this,” he said. “But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”
Of the other three objects, one was spotted over Alaska on Friday, flying at an altitude of about 40,000 feet. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the altitude of the object posed a reasonable threat to commercial aircraft that also fly at that altitude.
The United States coordinated with Canada to down a third object flying over Yukon territory in Northern Canada on Saturday. On Sunday, airspace over Lake Huron was temporarily closed as the U.S. Air Force shot down a fourth high-altitude object.
