US vows to make changes after UFO/spy balloon drama

The US has vowed to make rapid changes after the Chinese spy balloon and three “UFO’s” were blasted from its airspace. See what Joe Biden’s next moves are.

The Chinese spy balloon blasted from the sky over the US has meant a rapid rethink about how threats from the sky are tracked — and responded to.

Joe Biden’s administration announced this week the formation of an inter-agency task force to investigate the three mystery objects that were all shot down in the days after the spy balloon was discovered.

In a televised address, Mr Biden said the three objects shot down over Alaska, another over Canada and the third over Lake Huron off Michigan, were not linked to China and don’t appear to be used for spying.

“I’ve directed my team to come back to me with sharper rules to how we will deal with these unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not,” he said.

“If any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will shoot it down.”

“The violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” he said.

Questions still linger about what they were intended to for and who they belonged to. But the incidents have also ignited debate about how such scenarios will be dealt with going forward.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said one of the team’s new tasks will be to examine how they will respond to future aerial objects.

The spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana. Picture: AFP

“We’re going to learn from these three events,” he said.

In the wake of the incident, the US military adjusted radar settings to detect smaller objects and promptly discovered three more unidentified craft that Biden ordered shot down -- one over Alaska, another over Canada and the third over Lake Huron off Michigan.

China says the balloon was just a stray weather research craft, but US officials say they have conclusive evidence that the balloon was sent to spy.

Bruce McClintock, the head of RAND Corporation’s Space Enterprise Initiative, said the focus on lower-altitude objects is here to stay.

The US navy recovers the spy balloon off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picture: AFP

One option is to use the Space Surveillance Network, which tracks and monitors objects in outer space - but that came at a cost, Mr McClintock warned.

“The lower you tune down things to pick up smaller objects … the more likely you are to have these kinds of false alarms,” he told The Hill.

“It’s not like any nation, including the United States, has unlimited bandwidth to look for these objects. They have to make decisions about where to focus their sensors.”

The spy drama has also shone a light on the threat posed by China and could pave the way for Mr Biden to adopt a more aggressive stance.

The moment a US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon. Picture: Angela Mosley

Richard Fontaine, the head of the Centre for a New American Security, said “the balloon may just have made the difference” in how the US responded to China.

“It turns out that a vivid representation of Chinese intentions focuses minds to a far greater ­degree than inveighing against threats to the liberal international order or lamenting land reclamation in the South China Sea,” he told The Australian.

Originally published as US vows to make changes after UFO/spy balloon drama