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John Kirby at the White House press conference: Many questions, few answers
Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / REUTERS
Within a few days, the United States has brought three unidentified flying objects from the sky - most recently on Sunday over Lake Huron.
The authorities are apparently still looking for the wreckage and have therefore not yet been able to identify what type of flying objects it was.
This was unanimously declared for the United States by John Kirby, spokesman for national security, and Canadian President Justin Trudeau.
Two of the objects were spotted and shot down over the United States: one over sea ice in Alaska on Friday and another octagonal object over Lake Huron on Sunday.
On Saturday, Canadian and US fighter jets in a joint operation destroyed a cylindrical object over northwestern Canada.
The day-long overflight of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the United States had previously led to a scandal between Washington and Beijing.
A US fighter jet finally shot down the balloon on Saturday last week on the US east coast over the Atlantic.
At a White House press conference, John Kirby said the increasing number of flying object detections could also be due to the fact that the airspace has been more closely monitored since the suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over.
In any case, the objects had not been classified as a threat to people on the ground and had shown no signs of maneuverability or propulsion.
Kirby added that the United States does not fly balloons over China and is not aware of any other US aircraft invading Chinese airspace.
No indication of extraterrestrial activity
A White House spokeswoman had previously dismissed speculation that the downed flying objects were UFOs from outer space.
"There is no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial activity in these recent launches," spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
"I wanted to make sure the American people knew that."
John Kirby also emphasized: "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with regard to these missiles.
Period.« There is nothing more to say about it.
A high-ranking US general had not ruled out aliens as an attempt at an explanation and thus caused mental games.
There had been speculation on social media about a possible alien invasion.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nevertheless suspects that the downed flying objects are related – without explaining this in more detail.
"Obviously there's some sort of pattern," Trudeau said at a news conference in Whitehorse, the Yukon Territory capital.
“The fact that we have seen this on a significant scale over the past week is a cause for interest and attention.”
Trudeau said search and recovery operations are underway for the aircraft shot down over the Yukon, adding that the winter weather is challenging.
Trudeau also said he would raise the issue of the flying objects with US President Joe Biden at their March meeting.
The presence of these aircraft in North American airspace is a "very serious situation," Trudeau said.
mgo/dpa/Reuters