Biden says he ordered takedown of aerial objects ‘out of abundance of caution’

President Biden said Thursday that the three unidentified aerial objects shot down by U.S. forces  over North American airspace were likely not linked to China, and that he gave the order to take them down “out of an abundance of caution.” 

“I gave the order to take down these objects to hazards to civilian commercial air traffic and because we could not rule out the risk of sensitive facilities,” Mr. Biden said, breaking his silence on the bizarre incidents with his most extensive remarks so far.

The shoot-downs of the three objects last weekend came after the U.S. also brought down an alleged Chinese spy balloon on Feb. 4. The balloon had crossed most of the U.S. at high altitude.

But the president said it doesn’t appear the other three objects were connected with China.

“Nothing right now suggests they’re related to China’s spy balloon program,” Mr. Biden said.

Fighter jets shot down the three slow-moving objects flying above North America last weekend — one over Alaska’s coast, one over Canada’s Yukon territory, and one over Lake Huron.

Mr. Biden said he has no regrets about taking out the objects and pledged to shoot down any future flying objects that threaten American safety.

“Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” he said.

The president added that he will not apologize for taking down the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon.
 
While the U.S. is still working to recover the three unidentified objects and assess them, Mr. Biden said there is no evidence they were used by China or any other countries to spy on the U.S.  

Mr. Biden said the intelligence community still doesn’t know what the three unidentified objects over North America were, but it is not believed there was anything nefarious about them.

“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 scientific research,” he said.

However, no entity has come forward to claim ownership of the objects.

Mr. Biden said one explanation is that the U.S. has increased its radar capabilities so it is picking up objects that previously went unnoticed. The president added that there is no evidence of a “sudden increase” in the number of objects in the sky.

An interagency review is currently underway to study the broader policy implications and improve the detection, analysis and disposition of unidentified aerial objects.

Turning back to the Chinese balloon, which traversed the country between Jan. 28 and Feb 4, Mr. Biden said the incident has inflamed already fraught relations between Washington and Beijing. He said he expects to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the incident.

He did not say when the potential conversation would happen, but said the incidents underscore the importance of “open lines of communications between our diplomats and  military professionals.”

Lawmakers, including Democrats, had called on Mr. Biden to publicly address the situation. Congress was briefed earlier this week by top officials from the Department of Defense and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Mr. Biden last  publicly spoke about the situation last Friday, when he simply called the military’s takedown of an object over Alaska “a success.”

As of Thursday morning, lawmakers were still calling on the president to address the American people.

“I think he should. I think the American people need to hear more about the nature of these objects or whatever they were,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat.
 
Sen. Josh Hawley,  Missouri Republican, concurred.
 
 “We need to get the truth and we haven’t gotten it yet,” he said.