Joe Biden stated that three unidentified objects were not taken down by the US and did not appear to be used for spying. They could have been used to support benign purposes.
According to the US president, however, the objects were not “most likely” to be linked to private companies or research institutes.
Tensions are rising between China and the USA after Washington downed what it called a Chinese spy balloon in North American airspace.
According to the White House, China has a ” high altitude balloon program” that is used for intelligence gathering.
The US later shot down three other unidentified objects, one in Alaska, one in Canada, and one that fell into Lake Huron.
Biden stated that “nothing at the moment suggests they were connected to the Chinese spy balloon program, or that they were surveillance vessels from any other country.”
He stated that the intelligence community believed the objects were “mostly balloons linked to private companies, recreation and research institutions.”
He said that they might have been detected by enhanced radar due to the Chinese balloon. His team was also working on new parameters for when missiles could be launched at such aircraft.
Continue reading:
China claims that US balloons flew above its airspace more than 10 times in the past year
US in a heightened state over flying objects
Spy balls and flying objects: This timeline shows where and when fighter jets have taken down.
“We aren’t looking for a new Cold War”
The president stated that he did not apologize for America’s safety and promised to improve the US’s ability to detect unmanned objects within its airspace.
He said, “We aren’t looking for a new Cold War against China.”
The US president stated that he would talk to Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, about the balloon.
Beijing claims the 60m (200ft tall) balloon was used to monitor weather conditions. Washington however, says that it was clearly a surveillance balloon equipped with an electronic undercarriage.
It also claimed that the US has flown 10 items over its airspace, a claim Washington refutes.
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