The US believes the last two flying objects shot down in North America were balloons, albeit smaller than the alleged Chinese spy balloon intercepted last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today.
The United States shot down a Chinese balloon on Feb. 4, believing it to be on a spy mission over its territory, and two more similar objects have since been shot down, one in Alaska and the other in Canada, though it hasn’t given more information about these devices.
In an interview with US television station ABC, Schumer revealed that President Joe Biden’s team believes these last two objects were also balloons, “but much smaller than the first.”
The senator, who was briefed on the objects by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, said the devices flew at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a “danger” to commercial aviation.
Schumer emphasized that the United States knew nothing about these balloons until a few months ago and assured that the US military and intelligence agencies are focused on gathering all the necessary information.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Saturday that an object flying over Canada’s Yucon region has been shot down with the help of the United States.
The day before, on Friday, the United States shot down another object of unknown origin flying at high altitude in Alaska, the wreckage of which fell into the water.
Both events came amid a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing after last week the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over much of its territory.
The Biden administration accused China of developing, with the involvement of the armed forces, a “program” of espionage balloons that has already flown over more than 40 countries on five continents.
China claims the balloon the United States shot down was a meteorological device that “deviated from its original course” due to “force majeure”.
Today, authorities in China’s Shandong province, in the east of the country, announced the discovery of an “unidentified flying object (UFO)” near the coast as they prepare to shoot it down.
The said object was located in the waters of the Yellow Sea, near the coast of the city of Rizhao, according to a statement from the provincial maritime authorities, published by China’s state-run English-language newspaper Global Times.
The statement added that the Chinese military was preparing to take down the object, so authorities are asking fishermen in the region to take necessary protection measures.
Source: DN
