No need to panic over mystery objects, says White House

The White House has urged Americans ‘not to panic’ amid speculation the three objects shot out of the sky above Alaska and Canada were ‘benign’ research devices.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana, in early February. Picture: AFP

The White House has urged Americans “not to panic” amid speculation the three objects shot out of the sky above Alaska and Canada at the weekend were not Chinese spy machines, or even “aliens”, but probably “benign” research devices, perhaps commercially owned.

Criticism of President Joe Biden’s public silence following the mysterious developments ­intensified on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), even from fellow Democrats, as US senators emerged frustrated after receiving a Pentagon intelligence ­assessment.

“I came out of that briefing thinking nothing added up, either they lying to us is possible or totally incompetent or maybe both,” said Josh Hawley, Republican senator from Missouri.

“The only reason they are really shooting them down right now is they got embarrassed by the fact that Biden let a spy balloon crossed the US.”

It was senators’ second briefing in a week on the shooting of unauthorised objects following scrutiny of the downing of a ­Chinese spy balloon last week, which had traversed the US from Montana to South Carolina.

China has demanded the ­return of the balloon, while US authorities are analysing what they have salvaged from the ­Atlantic Ocean.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre earlier batted away criticism from journalists about the President’s silence, ­despite a light public schedule, saying Mr Biden was “taking this very seriously” and receiving regular briefings.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, she said, would soon ­report back publicly the findings of a special panel the White House had set up to investigate the “protocols” surrounding how to respond to future unidentified objects.

Separately, White House national security spokesman John Kirby stressed the likelihood the three objects were not part of any Beijing-sponsored spying program, although he conceded officials had been unable so far to find any of the debris, owing to their being scattered in inhospitable and remote parts of Alaska and Canada.

“They will not dismiss as a possibility that these could be balloons that were simply tied to commercial or research entities and therefore benign,” Mr Kirby said. “That very well could be, or could emerge, as a leading explanation here.”

The White House said no private individuals or businesses had contacted the government to claim ownership of the devices.

Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal said the administration was “becoming more transparent, and that’s a good thing, but there’s a need for even more”.

“I had the impression that this was something that had happened over the last two weeks but that’s not accurate; this has been going on a long time,” said ­Louisiana Republican senator John Kennedy

“I understand need for national security secrets but now that this cow is out of the barn the President and director of national security need to address it.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley weighed in the drama from Brussels, telling reporters that the first shot fired by the F-22 to hit one of the devices had missed, falling into Lake Huron on Sunday.

“We go to great lengths to make sure that the airspace is clear and the backdrop is clear up to the max effective range of the missile,” he said.

“And in this case, the missiles land, or the missile landed, harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron.”

Separately, CBS News reported that US intelligence officials had been tracking the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down a week earlier off South Carolina since it left China.