Four objects have been shot down over US airspace since February 4. The Pentagon identified the first as a Chinese surveillance balloon, but the Defense Department has not confirmed the nature of the remaining three.
Intelligence officials are “considering as the primary explanation that these could be linked to commercial or investigative entities and be benign,” the White House said Tuesday.
The senators received a classified briefing by experts from the Department of Defense, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and US Northern Command, as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy has advised citizens to “lock your doors” after that briefing. Speaking to the media, he said that so far officials had not been able to locate the remains of the three unidentified objects.
“It is clear to me that it is not a recent phenomenon,” he told reporters. This has been going on since at least 2017. Calling for more transparency, he said: “If you’re confused, you understand the situation perfectly.”
Ten days ago “we were led to believe our skies were clear but now we have unidentified objects and Chinese spy balloons raining down on us like confetti,” the Republican senator wrote on Twitter.
On February 10, the Department of Defense said an F-22 fighter jet had shot down an “unidentified high-altitude object” hovering at about 40,000 feet over northern Alaska.
President Joe Biden had ordered it shot down, the Pentagon said. The object fell into frozen water. Recovery operations are underway, the Pentagon added.
On February 11, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) shot down an unidentified aerial object flying over Canada. The next day, an F-16 fighter jet fired a missile to “successfully shoot down an airborne object” flying at 20,000 feet above Lake Huron, Michigan, the Pentagon confirmed.
“We did not assess it as a military threat, but it was a hazard to civilian flight and a threat because of its potential surveillance capabilities,” the Defense Department said.
The object shot down on Sunday was the fourth unidentified flying object targeted by US missiles in just over a week.
The first object, shot down over South Carolina on February 4, was identified by the Department of Defense as a “Chinese surveillance balloon.”
In a press conference, Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, ruled out that there was extraterrestrial involvement in the three downed unidentified objects.
There is “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity,” he said, adding that he “wanted to make sure the American people knew about it.”
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said after the meeting that the government “was becoming more transparent, and that’s a good thing, but more is needed.”
Quoted by Fox News, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said that “99% of what was discussed in that room today can be made public without compromising the security of this country.”
