Joe Biden has said the three unidentified objects shot down over US airspace were not connected to China or any other surveillance equipment. The president has directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an “interagency team” to review US procedures after the US shot down the Chinese balloon, as well as three other objects that Biden said the US now believes are most likely “benign” objects that were launched by private companies or research institutions.
He told reporters: “Our military and the Canadian military are seeking the recovery of the debris so we can learn more about these three objects. Our intelligence community is still assessing all three incidents.
“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.
“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.”
More to follow…
