US: Recently shot objects may be ‘benign’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The three as-yet-unidentified aerial objects shot down by the United States in recent days likely had a “benign purpose,” the White House acknowledged on Tuesday, drawing a distinction between the objects and the huge Chinese balloon that more early passed through the United States allegedly for espionage purposes.

“The intelligence community is looking at the primary hypothesis that these are simply balloons related to a commercial or benign purpose,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Officials also revealed that a missile launched at one of the objects, the one flying over Lake Huron on Sunday, missed its target and fell in the water before a second missile successfully hit it.

The information was made public at a time when measures passed by the Biden administration over the past two weeks are undergoing further scrutiny in Congress.

First, US warplanes only shot down what officials described as a Chinese spy balloon after it had crossed much of the United States, citing security concerns. The military then deployed F-22 fighters equipped with thermal missiles to quickly shoot down what were likely harmless objects.

Taken together, the moves raised both political and security questions about whether the Biden administration overreacted after being criticized by Republicans for reacting too slowly to the huge balloon.

Even as more information about the three objects emerges, questions remain about what they were, who sent them, and how the United States might respond to unidentified aerial objects in the future. Questions remain about the initial balloon, such as its spy capabilities and whether it transmitted signals while flying over sensitive US military areas.

Little is known about the fall of the three objects over three consecutive days from Friday to Sunday, in part because the wreckage has been difficult to recover from remote locations in the Yukon region of Canada, around northern l Alaska and near the peninsula. on Lake Huron. At this time, authorities have no indication that they were part of a wider spy operation with the balloon which was shot down in waters near South Carolina on February 4.

“We don’t see anything at this time that indicates they are part of the PRC’s spy balloon program,” Kirby told reporters, referring to the PRC. The objects are also unlikely to have “gathered intelligence against the United States of any kind, the evidence now shows.”

No country or private company has come forward to claim any of the objects, Kirby said. They do not appear to have been operated by the US government.

Kirby had hinted on Monday that the three objects differed significantly from the Chinese spy balloon, particularly in size. And his Tuesday comments marked a clear attempt by the White House to draw a line between the globe, which officials say was part of a Chinese military program that operated on multiple continents, and the objects that the government, might just be part of some research. or commercial campaign.

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Copp reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves contributed from Washington.