The White House has denied there were US surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace after Beijing claimed US high-altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022.
"There is no US surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, as he declined to specify further.
"We are not flying surveillance balloons over China."
The White House on Monday (local time) defended shooting down three unidentified objects in as many days, even as it acknowledged there was no indication they were intended for surveillance in the same manner as the high-altitude Chinese balloon that traversed American airspace earlier this month.
The three objects, including one shot down on Sunday (local time) over Lake Huron, were travelling at such a low-altitude as to pose a risk to civilian air traffic, Mr Kirby said.
And though the Biden administration does not yet have evidence that they were equipped for spying purposes, or even belonged to China, officials could not rule it out either, he said.
"These were decisions based purely and simply on what was in the best interests of the American people," Mr Kirby said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday (local time) the four aerial objects shot down were connected in some way, without elaborating.
"Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there — the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention," Mr Trudeau said.
Sensors recovered from downed balloon
The US military said on Monday (local time) it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed off South Carolina's coast on February 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering.
"Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure," the US military's Northern Command said in a statement.
The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before the US shot it down.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to calm Americans about the risks posed by the unidentified objects.
"I want to reassure Americans that these objects do not present a military threat to anyone on the ground," Mr Austin said, speaking to reporters as he landed in Brussels for a NATO gathering.
"They do, however, present a risk to civil aviation and potentially an intelligence collection threat."
Mr Austin said the US military has not yet recovered any debris from the three most recent objects shot down, one of which fell off the coast of Alaska in ice and snow.
Another shootdown occurred over the Yukon territory in Canada.
No indication of aliens
The White House said there was no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity after the unidentified objects were shot down.
"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 take downs," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
On Sunday, a US Air Force general said he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to US intelligence experts.
Another US defence official said the military had seen no evidence suggesting any of the objects in question were of extraterrestrial origin.
"I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts," Mr Kirby said.
The incidents come as the Pentagon has undertaken a new push in recent years to investigate military sightings of UFOs — rebranded in official government parlance as unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs.
The government's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects — whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater — has led to hundreds of documented reports that are being investigated, senior military leaders have said.
US and China could meet at security conference
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been considering a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference, in what would be their first face-to-face talks after the United States shot down flying objects, sources told Reuters.
Earlier this month, Mr Blinken postponed a planned trip to Beijing due to what the United States said was the unacceptable violation of its sovereignty and airspace by a Chinese surveillance balloon.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan noted last week Mr Blinken had postponed his visit to China, not cancelled it or sworn off future high-level communication China.
One opportunity for a meeting is a security conference in Munich from February 17-19, which both Mr Blinken and Mr Wang are expected to attend.
Analysts said Mr Blinken also could meet with Chinese counterparts at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in India in March.
ABC/wires
