President Joe Biden outlined new steps his administration will take on Thursday to address Americans’ concerns about aerial objects shot from the sky this month.
“These steps will result in safer and more secure skies for our air travelers, military, scientists, and people on the ground,” he said in a brief speech.
Biden stated that his administration would create a better inventory of unmanned airborne objects in US airspace, improve the country’s ability to detect such objects, update regulations for launching and maintaining such objects, and lead an effort to establish “common global norms in this largely unregulated space.”
Over the previous weekend, US fighter jets shot down three high-altitude objects above the United States and Canada, following the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Feb. 4.
Biden’s comments came after some Republican lawmakers earlier this week demanded that the president speak directly to the American people about the recently downed objects.
In his speech, the president reiterated his administration’s position that there is no evidence that the three recent objects are connected to China’s spy balloon program or another country’s surveillance efforts.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons associated with private companies, recreation or research institutions that were studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” Biden said.
According to an Aviation Week report, a balloon declared “missing in action” by a hobbyist club — the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade — has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by heat-seeking missiles launched by Air Force fighters.
Biden also emphasized a point made by other US officials: there hasn’t been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky.
“We’re seeing more of them now, partly because of the steps we’ve taken to increase and narrow our radars,” the president explained.
“We have to keep adapting our approach to dealing with these challenges. That’s why I’ve asked my team to come back to me with clearer guidelines for how we will deal with unidentified objects in the future, distinguishing between those likely to pose safety and security risks that require action and those that do not.”
Furthermore, he reiterated a previously stated stance toward Beijing, saying that he seeks “competition, not conflict with China.”
“This episode underscores the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between our diplomats and our military professionals. “Our diplomats will continue to engage, and I will maintain contact with President Xi,” Biden said.
The White House announced Monday that Biden had directed an interagency team to investigate the broader policy implications of unidentified aerial objects detection, analysis, and disposal.
Before the president’s speech, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the administration’s point that the difficult conditions have made recovering remnants from the three recently downed objects difficult.
