White House rows back from idea three shot-down objects were part of China spy balloon programme

The flying objects that have been downed by American and Canadian warplanes over the last few days do not appear to be related to the massive Chinese espionage airship that traversed American airspace earlier this month, the White House has said.

On Sunday, an American F-16 fighter shot down the latest of these unknown, unmanned craft above Lake Huron, near the maritime border the US shares with Canada.

The Defense Department said in a statement that the “airborne object” was brought down from an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet above sea level — well within the range of commercial jetliners — and stressed that the “path and altitude” of the object “raised concerns” that it could be a “hazard to civil aviation”.

Two similar “objects” were downed in the days prior to the Lake Huron incident by an American and a Canadian warplane, respectively, on orders from US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Monday said the objects were shot down because they posed threats to civil aviation because of the altitudes at which they were travelling.

Mr Kirby also said the US has not yet found reason to believe the three flying objects were in any way linked to the spy balloon that Mr Biden ordered shot down by an F-22 fighter on 5 February. But he stressed that American officials have not yet determined the origin or purpose of any of them.

“We ... know that a range of entities including countries, companies, research and academic organizations operate objects at these altitudes for purposes that are not nefarious at all, including scientific research. That said, because we have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are, we acted out of an abundance of caution to protect the security, our security, our interest and flight safety,” he said.

“We do not assess that these most recent objects posed any direct threat to people on the ground. And we are laser focused on confirming their nature and purpose, including through intensive efforts to collect debris in the remote locations where they have fallen.”

Mr Kirby said American officials had also assessed whether the objects had been “sending any communications signals” and whether they “were maneuvering or had any propulsion capabilities”. In each case, the answer was that they were not and did not.

He added that the US had “no specific reason” to believe any of the objects were conducting surveillance in the same manner as the Chinese airship, but stressed that such a purpose has not yet been ruled out.

The Biden administration already has a programme in place to study what the Pentagon has described as “unknown aerial phenomena,” including a Defense Department office that Mr Biden ordered established last year, which Mr Kirby said was operating “in partnership with the intelligence community, academic institutions and the private sector”.

“These unidentified aerial phenomena have been reported for many years, without explanation or deep examination by the government. President Biden has changed all that we are finally trying to understand them better,” he said.

Mr Kirby also said Mr Biden has directed that an interagency team be stood up to examine “the broader policy implications for detection, analysis and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks.”

“Every element of the government will redouble their efforts to understand and mitigate these events,” he said.

While the origin and purpose of the shot-down objects remains unclear at the moment, the White House was quick to put the kibosh on the idea that the US and Canada may have sparked an interstellar incident by downing an alien spacecraft.

At the outset of Monday’s White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre categorically denied that the craft at issue have any otherworldly origins.

"I just wanted to make sure we address this from the White House: I know there have been questions and concerns about this but there is no — again no — indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” she said.