President Joe Biden said that three of the four objects shot down by the military were likely not spy devices but other research objects related to weather data collection.
Speculation has run rampant since one large Chinese spy balloon was detected in Montana floating across the U.S. before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb 4.
Biden made the comments from the White House on Thursday to reporters.
“Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” Biden promised.
He went on to explain how how the decision was made to shoot down the first object, which had been confirmed to be a spy balloon.
“I make no apologies for taking down that balloon,” said Biden.
“We waited until it was safely over water, which would not only protect civilians but it also enable us to recover substantial components for further analytics,” he added. “And then we shot it down, sending a clear message, clear message: the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable. We’ll act to protect our country and we did.”
He went on to say that he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the incident.
“Since the beginning of my administration we seek competition, not conflict with China. We’re not looking for a new cold war,” Biden continued. “But I make no apologies and we will compete.”
He also said that the reason more objects in the sky had been detected was that the administration had taken steps to increase detection efforts in U.S. airspace.
Some have wondered aloud if the objects could be extraterrestrial in nature after reports that they were seen exhibiting strange and unexplainable behavior.
A CBS News report on Tuesday said that the military knew about the balloon a week before it flew into U.S. airspace and had watched it be launched from southern China.
Here’s a news report about the incident:
2 objects shot down likely not spy devices, Biden sayswww.youtube.com
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