US Says Downed Flying Objects 'Benign', No Sign Of Chinese 'Spying Program'

According to reports, the White House on Tuesday said that the three still-unidentified aerial objects shot down by the US last week likely had merely a 'benign purpose'.  

New Delhi: In a fresh development in the ongoing balloon saga, the United States has said that there is no indication that the three flying objects downed in the past week are linked to the alleged Chinese spying and they likely had a 'benign purpose', reported BBC. 

The White House on Tuesday said that the three still-unidentified aerial objects shot down by the US last week likely had merely a 'benign purpose,' reported AP.  

"The intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose," said White House national security spokesman John Kirby, as quoted by AP. 

The US first shot down a suspected Chinese ‘spy’ balloon which was followed by the downing of three other high-altitude objects over the past week. Now, the statement from the White House suggests the objects shot later were harmless and had no link with the alleged claim of Chinese ‘spying’. 

According to AP, even less is known about the three objects shot down over three successive days, from Friday to Sunday because it’s been challenging to recover debris from remote locations in the Canadian Yukon, off northern Alaska and near the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Huron. 

It added that so far, officials have no indication the balloons were part of a bigger surveillance operation along with the balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast on February 4. 

"We don’t see anything that points right now to being part of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) spy balloon program," Kirby told reporters, as mentioned by AP. He added that it is also not likely the objects were "intelligence collection against the United States of any kind — that’s the indication now." 

According to BBC, Kirby said a "leading explanation" is being considered by US intelligence, adding that "these could be balloons that were simply tied to commercial or research entities and therefore benign". 

As per the report, no country or private company has come forward to claim any of the objects, Kirby said. 

Reacting to the US response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin said, "Many in the US have been asking, 'what good can such costly action possibly bring to the US and its taxpayers?", quoted BBC.