New Delhi: The United States has said it shot down three unidentified flying objects recently out of an “abundance of caution,”. It added that they did not pose a threat to people on the ground, were not sending communication signals and were not manned, reported CNN citing the White House.
The response comes after the US downed another unidentified flying object in its skies on Sunday which was flying over Lake Huron. This was the third such object after the suspected Chinese ‘spy’ balloon case came to forth.
Since then, American fighter jets have shot down three more high-altitude objects over Alaska, Canada's Yukon territory, and Michigan, reported BBC. As per the reports, the administration has been under pressure to identify the objects.
CNN reported that President Joe Biden ordered a new government-wide effort on Monday to study unidentified aerial objects as the US continues to collect and investigate the debris.
The US also ruled out any indication of ‘aliens or extraterrestrial activity’ with these recent incidents. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "There is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns."
"I wanted to be sure the American people knew that and it is important for us to say that from here," she added.
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council said that there were differences between the alleged Chinese spy balloon and the three objects downed over the weekend, reported BBC.
He added the latter did not pose "any direct threat to people on the ground", but were taken down "to protect our security, our interests and flight safety".
However, he said, officials have not yet been able to "definitively assess" these objects, but have not ruled out the possibility they were conducting surveillance.
Kirby accused China of operating a "balloon programme for intelligence collection" that has ties to the Chinese military and was not detected during the Trump administration.
"We detected it. We tracked it, and we have been carefully studying it to learn as much as we can," he said, quoted BBC.
Beijing Alleges US Flying Balloons Over China
In what could be seen as a retaliation to the Chinese 'spy' balloon claim of th US, the Beijing has now alleged that Washington is flying its own balloons over China, reported BBC.
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that the US had flown balloons into its airspace more than 10 times in the past year, the report added.
"It's not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," BBC quoted spokesman Wang Wenbin as saying.
Responding to the allegation, Kirby said "We are not flying surveillance balloons over China. I'm not aware of any other craft we're flying into Chinese airspace."