Latest downed aerial object likely ‘benign’, says US | World News

The White House acknowledged on Tuesday that the three still-unidentified aerial objects shot down by the United States in the past week may have merely been surveillance for “benevolent purposes” to distinguish them from a giant Chinese balloon that had earlier crossed the United States with a suspicious target.

“A leading explanation being considered by the intelligence community is that these may simply be balloons associated with some commercial or benign purpose,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Officials also revealed that a missile fired at one of the three objects over Lake Huron on Sunday missed its intended target and fell into the water before a second missile managed to hit it.

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The new details come as the Biden administration’s actions over the past two weeks face fresh scrutiny in Congress.

First, U.S. fighter jets shot down what officials said was a Chinese spy balloon after flying over much of the United States because of security concerns. The military then deployed F-22 fighter jets armed with heat-seeking missiles to quickly shoot down potentially harmless objects.

Taken together, the actions raise political and security questions about whether the Biden administration is overreacting after being criticized by Republicans for being too slow to respond to the balloons.

While more information about the three objects has emerged, questions remain about what they are, who sent them, and how the U.S. might respond to unidentified aerial objects in the future.

Questions remain unanswered about the original balloon, including what kind of espionage capabilities it had and whether it was transmitting signals as it flew over sensitive U.S. military sites. U.S. intelligence agencies believe the ship was initially in orbit toward the U.S. territory of Guam, according to a U.S. official.

The U.S. tracked it for days after it left China, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence issues with The Associated Press. It appeared to have deviated from its original trajectory and ended up over the continental United States, the official said.

Balloons and other unidentified objects have previously been spotted over Guam, a strategic hub for the U.S. Navy and Air Force in the Western Pacific.

It is unclear how much control China retains over the balloon once it strays off course. Another U.S. official said the balloon could have been externally steered or directed to hover over a specific target, but it was unclear whether the Chinese military had done so.

Little is known about the three objects that were shot down over three consecutive days from Friday to Sunday, in part because recovering debris from remote locations in Canada’s Yukon Territory, northern Alaska and Lake Huron near Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has been challenging So far, officials have given no indication that they were involved in a larger surveillance operation along with the balloon that was shot down Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina.

“We don’t see any indication right now that it’s part of the Chinese spy balloon program,” Kirby told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China. It’s also unlikely that the objects were “any form of intelligence gathering against the United States — that’s the indication right now.”

Kirby said no country or private company has come forward to claim the items. They do not appear to be run by the US government.