WASHINGTON — The mysterious objects U.S. fighter jets shot down over North America in recent days are likely balloons tied to private scientific research and have no connection to the large Chinese spy balloon the U.S. military shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, President Joe Biden said Thursday at the White House.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to the Chinese spy balloon program, or that there were surveillance vehicles from other any other country,” he said. “But make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety, security of the American people, I will take it down.”
The U.S. military shot down a trio of unidentified aerial objects in the week after downing the Chinese spy balloon: one near Alaska’s northern coastline last Friday, another over Canada’s Yukon region on Saturday and a third over Michigan’s Upper Peninsula off Lake Huron on Sunday.
