Biden says 3 UFOs shot down after spy balloon not related to China program
WASHINGTON — President Biden told Americans Thursday there was no evidence a trio of unidentified flying objects shot down following the downing of a Chinese spy balloon were nefarious — in his first comments on the unprecedented military action in North American airspace after five full days of silence.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre promised Biden would explain his “decisive response to China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon” — but the president hewed closely to a familiar script based on details already provided to the press.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were,” Biden said of the devices shot down off the Alaskan coast, over Canada’s Yukon territory, and over Lake Huron Feb. 10, 11 and 12 — echoing remarks by other administration officials.
“But nothing, nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program, or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” the president went on, acknowledging a disclosure made Tuesday by his National Security Council.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects are most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreational or research institutions, studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” Biden said.
The president’s remarks were announced with just one hour’s warning after the 80-year-old returned from his annual physical Thursday morning at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Biden did say that “I expect to be speaking with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]” about the spy balloon incident — without saying exactly when and while repeating his well-worn call for “competition, not conflict” with China.
“I gave the order to shoot it down as soon as it would be safe to do so,” Biden said of the surveillance balloon shot down Feb. 4 off Myrtle Beach, SC.
“The military advised against shooting it down over land because of the sheer size,” he said. “Instead, we tracked it closely. We analyzed its capabilities, and we learned more about how it operates.”
Critics have questioned whether Biden ordered the subsequent spate of object shoot-downs because he was stung by criticism of his decision to allow the Chinese spy balloon to hover over sensitive US facilities from Alaska to South Carolina before ordering its downing.
The president declined to take questions following his seven-minute statement about the impact of the balloon incident on foreign relations or whether the subsequent shootdowns reflect poorly on his own judgment.
Legislators from both parties, including senators who received a classified briefing Tuesday, had called on Biden to address the public after the sky over the US and Canada turned into a live-fire zone.
“I think the public needs and deserves to know more. A lot of what we’ve been told are facts that the American people could know and should know, without any harm to our national security,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Tuesday. “I’ve urged repeatedly that on this topic and others, the administration could be more forthcoming.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said, “My phone is ringing off the wall and we got a president of the United States who is not saying anything. Get out there and tell the people we’re in good shape, we know what’s going on, and let’s go on with our lives. But for some reason, we have no leadership right now.”
Jean-Pierre denied Tuesday that Biden was refraining from addressing the public because he was “embarrassed” by the series of incidents.
“The National Weather Service website says that weather balloons are released around the world at 900 locations twice a day every single day of the year, including 92 released by the National Weather Service in the US, that they fly for at least two hours a day, drift as far as 125 miles… and rise up to 100,000 feet above the ground.” a reporter for the New York Times pointed out to Jean-Pierre at her regular briefing.
“If it turns out, as it looks like, that the president and [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau sent top gun fighters to blow weather balloons out of the sky, does the president regret that and is he embarrassed by that?”
Jean-Pierre said, “I don’t think the president should be embarrassed, right, by the fact that he took action to make sure that our airspace — civilian airspace was safe.”
The Times journalist pointed out, “they were in the civilian airspace with dozens, scores of balloons that are also in the civilian airspace every day.”
