The White House defends its decision to destroy aerial objects.
Schumer believes that all three flying objects over the U.S. and Canada are balloons. Congress must gain more knowledge
This weekend, the White House shot down three objects flying over North American airspace “out of an abundance of caution,” as stated by the White House.
According to spokesman John Kirby, the objects posed a threat to commercial flights and were destroyed in the “best interests” of the American people.
Since the recent incursion of a Chinese-suspected spy balloon, the United States is examining its airspace more closely.
Beijing has claimed that the United States flies its own balloons over China.
In the past year, the United States has flown balloons into Chinese airspace more than ten times, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
“It is not unheard of for the United States to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” a spokesman told reporters.
Mr. Kirby, speaking from the White House, denied the allegation “We do not fly reconnaissance balloons over China. I am unaware of any other aircraft flying with us into Chinese airspace.”
A high-altitude balloon crashed off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, after traveling for days over the continental United States.
China denied the object was used for spying and claimed it was a weather monitoring device that had strayed from its intended location.
Since the initial incident, American fighter jets have shot down three additional high-altitude objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory, and Michigan, and the administration has been under pressure to identify the objects.
On Sunday, a Pentagon spokesman appeared to imply that the U.S. had not ruled out the possibility that the objects were extraterrestrial in origin, but on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied this.
She stated, “There is no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial activity in these recent takedowns.” “I wanted to ensure that the American people were aware of this, and it is essential that we state this from here.”
Mr. Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House, joined Ms. Jean-Pierre at the briefing.
