The White House said Tuesday that it had no indication that the three objects brought down by the US military over the past weekend were part of China’s spy program, although it noted the difficulties in recovering the debris.
“While we cannot say definitively, again without analyzing the debris, what these objects were, so far we have not seen any indication or anything that specifically points to the idea that these three objects were part of the spy balloon program. [de China]or that they were definitely involved in external intelligence gathering efforts,” said national security spokesman John Kirby.
According to official sources, it has not been possible to analyze the rubble because it has been difficult to access it, considering the harsh conditions of the places where it was demolished.
Asked if there’s a chance the debris may never be recovered, Kirby said: “We’re doing the best we can to try to locate the debris and then develop a plan to recover it.”
Kirby had said Monday that uncertainty about the surveillance capabilities of the three objects in US airspace led to President Biden’s orders for the military to shoot them down.
The objects were shot down by the US military about a week after the US shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
The first object was shot down on Friday off the north coast of Alaska, the second on Saturday over frozen territory in northern Canada and the third on Sunday over Lake Huron.
Kirby cautioned that “it could be some time before we locate the recovered debris” and noted that Lake Huron, where the object landed on Sunday when it was shot down, is a deep lake. He also said that there are difficult weather conditions in the three places where the objects fell.
