WORLD NEWS | Officials remain silent as rumors mount about balloons and UFOs

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (AP) Maybe they’re from China. Perhaps from further afield. Much farther.

The downing of four aerial devices by U.S. warplanes has sparked rampant misinformation about the objects, their origin and purpose, demonstrating that the complexity of world events and a lack of information can quickly create the perfect conditions for unchecked speculation and misinformation.

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The presence of a mysterious object in the sky doesn’t help.

“There will be an investigation and we’ll learn more, but until then, this story creates a playground for those who are interested in speculating or spoiling for their own reasons,” said former defense analyst Jim Luders. He now directs the Center for International Relations at the Per Salve Regina University.

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“Part of it,” Luders added, “is that it’s baked into so much of the narrative of government secrecy.”

President Joe Biden and other senior Washington officials have said little about the repeated shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that began earlier this month. Three other unidentified devices were shot down, most recently over Lake Huron on Sunday. Pentagon officials said they posed no security threat, but did not disclose their origin or purpose.

On Monday, many social media sites in the United States were flooded with the notion that Biden deployed the aerial device to distract Americans from other, more pressing issues. Those concerns include immigration, inflation, the war in Ukraine and Republican investigations into the president’s son, Hunter Biden.

While the claims are most concentrated on fringe sites popular with far-right Americans, baseless rumors and conspiracy theories have also surfaced on larger platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

One of the most popular theories is that the White House and Pentagon are using airborne devices to distract attention from a chemical spill that occurred in Ohio earlier this month.

The incident, caused by a train derailment, occurred days before the latest equipment was shot down and was widely reported. Still, it topped Google searches on Monday, indicating continued public interest in the story.

Some commentators said Biden’s decision to wait to shoot down the balloon until it reached the East Coast showed his alliance with China. Others, meanwhile, blamed Biden for shooting down a foreign plane they believed could be carrying biological or nuclear weapons.

Misleading claims about onboard equipment also sparked threats of violence, according to an analysis by SITE Intelligence Group, a company that tracks extremist speech online.

After the White House said earlier surveillance flights had gone undetected during Donald Trump’s presidency, an article circulated on far-right websites urging the execution of any Trump administration officials who may have withheld information.

Trump administration officials said they were unaware of such surveillance technology.

Aside from political conspiracy theories, there have also been suggestions that aerial objects are of extraterrestrial origin. Searches for the term “UFO” spiked on Sunday as photos of alleged UFOs were shared online, according to Google Trends.

“Don’t worry, just some friends of mine stopping by,” Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk joked in a tweet on Sunday.

Humor aside, while the details of the different accounts vary, they have two things in common: a lack of evidence and a strong distrust of America’s elected leaders.

“Maybe Joe built the balloon and had Hunter launch it to scare the rest of us!” wrote one Facebook user. “How do we know??? We don’t!

Luders said the federal government must balance the public’s desire for details with the need for national security and defense secrecy. That’s unlikely to satisfy Biden’s critics or stop the spread of misleading interpretations, Luders said.

High-profile news stories and events often precede a surge in false and misleading claims as people turn to the internet for explanations. Conspiracy theories about Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin spread quickly after a dramatic on-court meltdown in January. Something similar happened last year when the Nord Stream pipeline in the North Sea was damaged.

In that case, Russia spread conspiracy theories accusing the US of sabotage. The baseless theory was quickly amplified by far-right users in the US. This is not the first time America’s authoritarian rivals have used global events to paint the United States as belligerent.

China claims the balloon it shot down on February 4 was used for meteorological research. On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said 10 U.S. balloons entered Chinese airspace without permission last year.

Kenton Thibault, a China expert at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Research Laboratory, said Beijing’s response to the latest diplomatic spat sought to paint China as a responsible actor while sidestepping US surveillance charges . Disinformation and propaganda.

“It’s about projecting an image of being responsible and rational, being the adult in the room,” Tebow said of China’s response. “It’s a clear signal to the developing world that America is selfish, Untrustworthy and hypocritical.”

On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s officials did refute a viral claim about the balloon legend.

“I know there are questions and concerns about this, but there is no — and again, no indication — that aliens or alien activity has anything to do with these recent demolitions,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “I want to make sure the American people know this, all of you know this, and it’s important for us to come out of here because we’ve heard a lot.” (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)