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"There are no signs of aliens": the unusual theories about downed flying objects

2023-02-14T15:35:07.599Z


The White House spokesmen themselves came out to stop the wild speculation. But they fail to clear up the doubts.


With few confirmed details from the White House, the downing of three

unidentified aerial objects

in recent days by US warplanes sparked wild speculation about what they were and where they came from.

It even led the presidential press secretary to say on Monday that there were no indications of "extraterrestrial activity."

US President Joe Biden did not hold any public events on Monday and offered few explanations, following the discovery of a Chinese balloon - supposedly spying - crossing the country and unprecedented peacetime shootdowns that have been

reported

. produced.

US officials said they have

little information about the three objects

, which were shot down first off the Alaskan coast on Friday, then over Canada on Saturday and finally over Lake Huron in the state of Michigan on Sunday.

But those shootdowns were part of a stronger response to the aerial phenomena following the balloon incident blamed on a Beijing spy program.

Members of the US Navy search the Atlantic Ocean for remains of the downed Chinese balloon on February 4.

Photo: REUTERS

crazy theories


The White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, did make a forceful statement to try to placate the

unchecked theories

: "I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but

there is not, I repeat, there is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity"

.

The US government insists that none of the three objects posed any threat to the country's security and that even the massive spy balloon provided limited additive capabilities to other Chinese surveillance programs.

However, they were

shot down out of an abundance of caution

, said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

Biden's unprecedented decision to shoot down four objects flying over North America over the course of eight days coupled with efforts by US officials to publicly downplay the foreign threat has fueled dissonant messages about actions to protect Americans. Homeland.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the mix-up, saying the administration wants to prevent the American public from needlessly worrying while also trying to

maintain a strong stance on China.

Kirby said that while the United States has no particular reason to suspect that the aerial objects were spying, "we cannot rule it out."

He added that the most recent objects, flying at an altitude of between 6,000 and 12,000 meters, could have posed a remote risk to civilian aircraft.

Some officials see the legal justification for the shootdowns that the objects could endanger civilian flights as such a long shot that it raises questions about whether it was simply a pretext for tough action.

Firm hand with China


Biden wants to get tough on China, and this is a good example that actions speak louder than words, said Brian Ott, co-author of

The Twitter Presidency: Donald J. Trump and the Politics of White Rage

.

"If next year we find ourselves in a presidential debate between the two of them, Trump will try to portray Biden as weak on national security, and Biden will be able to turn to Trump and say: How many of those Chinese balloons and unidentified objects did you shoot down? ?" Said the expert, referring to the 2024 presidential elections. 

Ott, a professor of communication at Missouri State University, noted that Biden's relative silence on the downing of the Chinese balloon and the other objects could be directed, at least in part, at his possible 2024 re-election

bid

.

Republicans criticized Biden in the days after the Chinese balloon was detected in US airspace for being slow to act.

When asked if the decision to tear down the objects came in response to that criticism, Kirby insisted that they were decisions based purely and simply on the best interests of the American people.

FBI agents receive the material that was recovered from the Chinese balloon shot down days ago.

Photo: REUTERS

Congress calls for answers


With little new information, senators from both parties demanded answers when they returned to Washington on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that senators would receive a confidential briefing on Tuesday and that Congress would work in the coming weeks to get the full story of what happened.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat behind Schumer, stressed that Biden owes the country some answers.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell noted that Biden needs to communicate and be honest with the American people.

He questioned what the government knew about China's spying before the first balloon flew across the country.

After the downing of the balloon, the White House revealed that such balloons

had crossed the United States at least three times

during the Trump administration, without the knowledge of the former president or his advisers, and that others have flown over dozens of nations in other continents.

Kirby stressed Monday that they were only detected by the Biden administration.

Jim Ludes, a former national defense analyst who currently directs the Pell Center for International Affairs and Public Policy at Salve Regina University, said political simulation is inevitable.

"It doesn't matter what the government says. People are going to play politics with it and try to score points," he said. They will always say that they have acted too slowly, or too hastily.

There is good reason for the Biden administration to be cautious, Ludes added, noting that the fray over the aerial devices comes amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan.

A wrong statement from Biden could destabilize an already tense situation.

"The next time we fly a B-52 through the strait, what will China do?" asked Ludes.

There are opportunities for this to get very complex very quickly.

On Monday, Kirby tried to draw

a distinction between the latest objects and the confirmed spy balloon

, noting their much smaller size, their lack of maneuverability, and the absence of any indication that they had communication links before they were shot down.

They were only detected, he said, because the United States had adjusted the sensitivity of air defense radars to detect high-altitude, slow-moving objects, such as the spy balloon.

Officials have yet to recover any parts of the three unidentified objects, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, citing dangerous terrain, water and weather where they were downed as the cause.

US officials

couldn't even pinpoint whether they were balloons or another type of aircraft

, and have so far refused to share footage taken before they were shot down.

What is clear is that it is not extraterrestrial activity.

Kirby echoed Jean-Pierre's point on that: I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with regard to these objects.

By Zeke Miller, Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani, AP Agency


BC

look also

China denounces that at least 10 balloons from the United States have flown over its airspace in the last year

The US recovers key sensors from the Chinese balloon and seeks to unravel the mystery of the downed objects

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-02-14

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