The White House tried to quell talk on Monday that an aerial object found flying over US airspace might be linked to extraterrestrial life.
Speaking from the White House podium, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she wanted people to hear directly from President Joe Biden’s administration that foreign involvement in the incident was not a viable theory.
“I understand that there are questions and concerns about this, but there is no – again, no – indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” he said, referring to authorities who shot down four objects in the sky, including the suspect. Chinese spy balloons, in North American airspace this month.
“It is important for us to speak from here, because we have heard a lot about it,” said Jean-Pierre, then joked: “I like the movie ‘ET’, but I will just leave it there.”
Some are caught in the idea that the flying object, which has varied in size and scope, could have an extraterrestrial origin after a reporter asked General Glen VanHerck, Commander of the Northern Command of the Air Force, in a news conference Sunday if the team had ordered out. alien bond.
“I haven’t ruled anything out at this point,” he replied.
The comments inspired headlines, including one from Fox News asking “Could aliens be the source of the mysterious ‘object’?”
But national security officials, other than those at the White House, later dismissed the speculation. Several officials who spoke to The New York Times said no one believed the object was “other than an Earth-made device.”
US defense officials said the object had to be shut down because it posed a danger to civilian aircraft. But he was also on alert after discovering that the first object — a 200-foot balloon off the coast of South Carolina — was likely a spy device from the Chinese military. The Biden administration later said China may be behind a fleet of surveillance balloons targeting more than 40 countries and that the high-tech objects could collect communications signals and other sensitive information.
Chinese officials denied that the balloon was a spy device and maintained that it was only a civilian meteorological airship that exploded. He also ruled out a meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart to discuss the incident.
The second, third and fourth objects that were shot down were all smaller and flew at a lower altitude than the initial balloon object. Because most of them were destroyed when the fighter jets were shot down, authorities are still gathering information about them to share with the public.