Biden says unidentified flying objects not linked to Chinese spy activity

The President says the three high-flying objects shot down after the Chinese balloon were likely tied to private companies or research.

US President Joe Biden speaks about the administration's response to recent aerial objects at the White House House in Washington.

President Biden said the three highflying objects taken down over North America following the shooting down of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon were likely tied to private companies or related to recreation or scientific research, saying they were removed out of an abundance of caution.

Following days of questions about the administration’s response, Mr. Biden said of the three objects that “nothing right now suggests they’re related to China’s spy balloon program.” He said he has directed his team to develop sharper rules for distinguishing objects that present safety risks and require action.

“But make no mistake, if any object that presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people. I will take it down,” he said.

Mr. Biden’s comments were the most detailed explanation of the three unknown objects shot down since Friday, though he stopped short of identifying them. U.S. military officials have said they won’t know what they shot down until they recover the debris, but that could take weeks, and they may not collect all of it.

The U.S. identified the objects after it changed how it collected raw radar data to capture signatures it didn’t see before. It is unclear if such objects have long operated in U.S. airspace and were only recently captured or have only recently appeared.

Mr. Biden said the recovery of the Chinese balloon was continuing, describing the payload as “the size of multiple school buses.” He said investigators have learned more about how it operated and recovered components for additional analysis.

“The violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” Mr. Biden said, adding that the U.S. has put restrictions on six companies that support the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military. He also said the U.S. would “continue to engage with China, as we have throughout the past few weeks.” “Our diplomats will be engaging further and I will remain in communication with President Xi,” Mr. Biden said.

The president said intelligence officials didn’t believe the three objects were connected to the Chinese spy-balloon program.

“Nothing right now suggests they’re related to China’s spy balloon program, or that they were surveillance vehicles from other any other country,” Mr. Biden said. “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather, or conducting other scientific research.” The concern over high-altitude objects started earlier this month, when the

U.S. tracked what it believed to be a Chinese balloon over North America, shooting it down once it headed into open ocean off the Carolinas. That was followed by takedowns of other objects over Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron, prompting the president to create an interagency task force to look at policy issues surrounding the balloons and the unidentified flying objects.

Mr. Biden said there was no evidence that there has been “a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky.” But the president said he had asked for the task force to provide his administration with guidelines on how to proceed in these kinds of cases in the future. He said he would share with Congress “these classified policy parameters when they’re completed and they’ll remain classified so we don’t give our road map to our enemies to try to evade our defenses.” The group includes personnel from the Defense Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, and was asked to review the policy implications of shooting down the objects and determine the best way forward if other objects are discovered.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said earlier in the week that the U.S. hadn’t seen any additional objects in U.S. airspace. He said that there was no “blanket policy” to shoot down any new objects and that each issue is looked at on a case-by-case basis.

US President Joe Biden speaks in Washington DC on Friday.

The White House has faced calls to provide more information to both Congress and the public. While the administration has provided briefings to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, members of both parties have said they want more information on both the balloon as well as the three other shootdowns.

“The cow is now out of the barn. At this juncture, the president needs to talk straight up to the American people about what’s happening in our airspace,” tweeted Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.).

“The American people should be given more information. They’re ready for it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.). “And they need and deserve to know it.”

A possible explanation for one object has emerged online. A civilian balloon club, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, said on its website that one of its amateur weather balloons, Pico Balloon K9YO, “was missing in action” shortly after flying at 38,910 feet near Alaska.

The following day, U.S. officials said an F-22 fighter jet shot down an unknown object flying in that area at around 40,000 feet over Canada’s Yukon territory. That is roughly where forecasting models would have placed the NIBBB balloon. Aviation Week first reported about the missing balloon.

It isn’t the first time the NIBBB balloon, which had been traveling for 123 days, has been reported missing. Earlier this year it disappeared for nearly a month, according to the NIBBB website.

U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations over North America, was aware of the reports, defense officials said, but had no comment. Members of NIBBB didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.

The Wall Street Journal