White House responds to speculation that aerial objects could be extraterrestrial

The White House on Monday tried to shut down rumors that aerial objects found flying over US airspace may have links to extraterrestrial life.

Speaking from the White House podium, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she wants people to hear directly from President Joe Biden’s administration that extraterrestrial involvement in these incidents is not not a working theory.

“I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no – again, no – indication of extraterrestrial or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” she said. said, referring to authorities shooting down four high-altitude objects, including a suspect. Chinese spy balloon, above North American airspace this month.

“It was important for us to say that from here, because we hear a lot about it,” Jean-Pierre said, then joked, “I loved ‘ET’ the movie, but I’m just going to leave there.”

Some seized on the idea that the flying objects, which varied in size and range, might have extraterrestrial origins after a reporter asked Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of Air Force Northern Command, during a a press conference on Sunday if his team had ruled out extraterrestrial links.

“I haven’t ruled anything out at this point,” he replied.

The remark inspired a flurry of headlines, including one from Fox News asking “Could aliens be the source of mysterious ‘objects’?”

But national security officials, in addition to the White House, later quashed that speculation. Several officials who spoke to The New York Times said none of them believed the objects “are anything other than devices made here on Earth.”

US defense officials said the objects should be stopped because they posed a threat to civilian aircraft. But they are also on high alert after discovering that the first object – a 200ft balloon off the coast of South Carolina – was likely a Chinese military spy device. The Biden administration later said China was likely behind a fleet of surveillance balloons targeting more than 40 countries and that the high-tech objects are capable of collecting communications signals and other sensitive information.

Chinese officials deny the initial balloon was a spy device and argue it was simply a civilian weather blimp that had veered off course. They also declined a meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart to discuss the incident.

The second, third, and fourth objects shot down were all much smaller and flew at lower altitudes than the initial balloon object. Because they were largely destroyed when fighter jets shot them down, authorities are still gathering information about them to share with the public.