Washington, February 12 The U.S. government believes the last two flying objects shot down in North America were balloons, though smaller than the alleged Chinese spy balloon intercepted last week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday. .
The United States shot down a Chinese balloon on February 4, believing it was spying on its territory, and has since brought down two more objects, one in Alaska and one in Canada, although it did not give more details on these devices. .
In an interview with ABC, Schumer revealed that President Joe Biden’s team believes these last two objects were also balloons, “but much smaller than the first.”
The senator, who was briefed on the objects by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, said the craft were flying at 12,000 feet, posing a “hazard” to commercial aviation.
Schumer pointed out that until a few months ago the United States knew nothing about these balloons and assured that the American military and intelligence services were focused on gathering all the necessary information.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Saturday that an object flying over the Yucon region in northwestern Canada was shot down with the help of the United States.
On Friday, the United States shot down another high-flying object of unknown origin over Alaska, the wreckage of which fell into the icy waters.
Both events occurred amid the diplomatic crisis between the United States and China after the United States last week shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over much of its territory.
The Biden government accuses China of having developed, with the participation of the armed forces, a “program” of balloons for espionage work and of having already flown over more than 40 countries on 5 continents.
China defends that the balloon the United States shot down was a weather device that “deviated from its original path” due to “force majeure”. EFE
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