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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Archie Bland

Tuesday briefing: Why is the US suddenly spying so many UFOs?

A suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast of South Carolina. Photograph: Randall Hill/Reuters

Good morning. UFOs are being shot down over North America, and one of them is octagonal. OK, that’s a slightly breathless account of events since a Chinese balloon was sighted over Montana 10 days ago, and aliens probably aren’t involved – but the full story is almost as interesting.

After that first balloon was brought down and US secretary of state Anthony Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing in response, three other mysterious objects have been taken out in US and Canadian airspace in the last few days – the last of them an “octagonal structure” with strings attached to it. The US views them as potential surveillance tools.

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