Downed UFOs were likely linked to private companies, says Biden

US President Joe Biden said at a press conference on Thursday (16) that “nothing suggests” that the flying objects shot down in North America recently “were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were vehicles of surveillance of any other country”.

Still, he admitted it’s unclear what the objects were or their purpose.

“The current intelligence assessment is that these three objects were likely balloons attached to private companies, recreational or research institutions that study the climate or conduct other scientific research,” Biden explained during the White House speech.

Three objects were brought down recently: one over Lake Huron, USA, which was “octagonal” in shape with dangling ropes and no discernible load, according to a senior government official; another over northern Canada, which appeared to be a balloon with a metal payload hanging underneath; and another off the coast of northern Alaska, which was metallic and broke into several pieces when it hit the sea ice.

Information sourced from US and Canadian authorities. They point out that the objects were all smaller in size and flying at a much lower altitude than the Chinese balloon shot down on February 4.

Another point addressed by the American head of state is that there is no evidence that there was a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky, but the ability to identify them has been expanded with improved sensors.

“Now we’re seeing more of them, in part, due to the steps we’ve taken to increase our radars,” he explained.

Measures to monitor objects

Joe Biden also revealed that he instructed the government to take measures to monitor objects that enter American airspace.

Are they:

• The US will establish a better inventory of unmanned aerial objects above US airspace and ensure it is “accessible and up-to-date”;
• The US will implement measures to improve its ability to detect unmanned objects;
• Authorities will update rules and regulations for launching and maintaining unmanned objects above the US;
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken will lead an effort to help “establish common global standards in this largely unregulated space.”

Biden Says He Doesn’t Want “A New Cold War”

The head of state said that he is not looking for a “new Cold War” with the Asian country, but that he will not apologize for the downed balloon. Still, he stressed that the incident underscores the importance of keeping diplomatic and military lines of communication open.

“We seek competition, not conflict with China. We are not looking for a new Cold War. But I do not apologize, and we will compete,” he said, adding that he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He did not, however, provide a possible date for the meeting.

*Oren Liebermann, MJ Lee, Phil Mattingly, Natasha Bertrand and Kevin Liptak of CNN contributed to this story

*published by Tiago Tortella, from CNN