Washington: The three high-flying objects which were shot down over the American and Canadian airspace this month were not related to the Chinese spy balloon programme, but most likely tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions, according to US President Joe Biden.
Biden said this in his speech at the White House on Thursday, his first one after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. Three other high-flying objects were shot down by American fighter jets – two in the US and one in Canada.
Biden reiterated the view of US officials that the huge balloon, which traversed the country at an altitude of about 40,000ft before being blown out of the sky by a US fighter jet over the Atlantic, was in fact used for spying.
“The US and Canadian military are seeking to recover the debris so they can learn more about these three objects. The intelligence community is still assessing all three incidences. They’re reported to him daily and will continue their urgent efforts to do so, and he will communicate that to the Congress,” Biden said.
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon programme or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” he said.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” Biden said.
By shooting down the Chinese spy balloon, Biden said has sent “a clear message that the violation of our sovereignty was unacceptable. We’ll act to protect our country and we did.” Biden said he expects to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the issue that has increased the tensions between the US and China.