(RightIsRight.co) – President Joe Biden announced the three unidentified flying objects the US Air Force downed over the United States and Canada last weekend were most likely private balloons.
In a short Thursday speech, Biden revealed the US intelligence community concluded the three objects were probable balloons launched by private companies, research, or recreation institutions.
On February 4, the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Last weekend, it also downed three smaller objects – one off the coast of Alaska, another one over Canada’s Yukon territory, and a third one over Lake Huron.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to Chinas’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said in his remarks, as cited by The National Review.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” he added.
The president said the US authorities had found no evidence of an abrupt surge in objects floating in the sky.
He noted the difference today compared with before the Chinese surveillance airship was shot down was that the focus of US radars had been narrowed, and more such objects were being detected.
Biden added that he had instructed his team to devise “sharper rules” for dealing with unidentified objects. The effort will be led by his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.
The rules would provide for “distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not.”
“If any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” the president declared.
Last Sunday, in a fourth incident, besides the three cases in which the president ordered flying objects to be shot down, a “radar anomaly” led the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily close down part of Montana’s airspace.
US Air Force jets sent to inspect the incident could not find any object connected with the anomaly.
In his address, President Joe Biden said he expected to have a conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on surveillance airships.
“I hope we are going to get to the bottom of this, but I make no apologies for taking down that balloon,” he stated, as cited by CNN, regarding the destruction of the Chinese spy airship.
The Chinese government reacted on Friday morning by maintaining that the airship was just a weather balloon.
“The international practice already has relevant international laws and norms on civil aircraft. The US side overreacted and shot down the Chinese civilian uncrewed airship with excessive force, disregarding international laws and practices,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
