Three flying objects were shot down over North America last week after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted. But the US government has so far seen no evidence of espionage from China in the new cases.
The US government has so far seen no evidence of a connection to Chinese espionage after the downing of three mysterious flying objects. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday there was nothing to indicate the objects were part of China's "spy balloon program" or that they were "definitely" used for foreign espionage.
The objects launched over the US and Canada could be "balloons that were simply attached to commercial or research facilities and were therefore harmless," Kirby said. This may turn out to be the "leading explanation".
However, the objects that were shot down have not yet been recovered. "We haven't found her yet," Kirby said. He justified this with the "rather harsh" meteorological and geographical conditions on site.
At the end of last week, US fighter jets shot down three flying objects over the US state of Alaska, over Canada and over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border. The US military's operations followed the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the US east coast on February 4.
China has denied it was a spy balloon. The government in Beijing speaks of a drifted weather balloon. The USA firmly rejects this account. Recently, US forces were able to recover a sensor and electronic parts from the downed balloon from the Atlantic.
