All three major news networks are broadcasting Monday’s daily White House news briefing live, and for good reason: Government officials provided an update on the three aerial targets shot down by the U.S. military in recent days.
For starters, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, aware of the intense speculation about exactly what the objects are, told reporters, “There is no evidence of extraterrestrial activity at these recent distances.”
Some reporters laughed. “I am in love E.T the film, but I’ll leave it at that,” said Jean-Pierre.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, did not identify the objects and said debris had not yet been recovered, including in remote areas.
“We don’t know who owns them,” he said.
But he told reporters that President Joe Biden ordered the objects shot down after determining they posed a potential threat to civilian aircraft flying between 20,000 and 40,000 feet. Kirby also said that while the objects do not appear to be maneuvering or sending out communication signals, “monitoring cannot be ruled out.”
He also said the objects differed from the Chinese spy balloon shot down on February 4 after hovering over the continental United States because they were at a lower altitude.
Kirby said the Chinese have a “high-altitude balloon program” with “limited add-on capabilities” that could become more valuable to them in the future.
The other three objects “were essentially wind driven,” Kirby said.
“We will learn from these three events. We will continue to investigate what happened,” he said.
Kirby said the administration is investigating the unidentified celestial phenomenon and “we’re ultimately trying to understand them better.” He also said NORAD has been scrutinizing the airspace more closely lately, something that “may increase [the number] of detected objects.”
The US military shot down an object flying at about 12,000 feet in northern Alaska on Friday. Then on Saturday, another object flying over Canada’s Yukon Territory was shot down after Biden conferred with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Another object flying at about 20,000 feet was shot down over Lake Huron on Sunday. It was described as octagonal with ropes attached to it.
Kirby also ruled out an extraterrestrial source for the objects.
“I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens,” he said.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
