A cloud of uncertainty is swirling around objects that have been recently shot down over North America.
Sunday marked the third straight day an unidentified object was shot down by an American warplane. An object described as having “an octagonal structure with no [discernible] payload” was shot down over Lake Huron, according to Reuters. This followed an object downed over the northern coast of Alaska on Friday and one shot down over Canada’s Yukon on Saturday. All three follow the Feb. 4 shoot down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off of the South Carolina coast.
Although on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was told by the White House that the first two objects shot down over the weekend were balloons — the third had not yet been downed when Schumer spoke — that’s not what Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, who leads the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Sunday.
“I’m not going to categorise them as balloons. We’re calling them objects for a reason,” VanHerck said, according to the BBC.
“What we are seeing is very, very small objects that produce a very, very low radar cross-section,” he said.
VanHerck said the U.S. has adapted radar to track slower objects than it once did, according to The Washington Post.
“With some adjustments, we’ve been able to get a better categorization of radar tracks now, and that’s why I think you’re seeing these. Plus, there’s a heightened alert to look for this information,” he said.
The general noted that the past few days have been a military milestone.
“I believe this is the first time within United States or American airspace that NORAD or United States Northern Command has taken kinetic action against an airborne object,” he said.
VanHerck was asked about the possibility of aliens.
“I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven’t ruled out anything,” he said, BBC reported.
Reuters noted that a defense official it spoke to said there is no current belief that the objects originated anywhere but Earth.
On one issue, VanHerck was very certain.
“At this point we continue to assess every threat or potential threat, unknown, that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it,” he said, according to Reuters.
Lawmakers from Montana, where the alleged Chinese spy balloon was spotted as was another object believed to be the one downed over Lake Huron, said they’ve had enough mystery and would like some answers.
“What’s gone on in the last two weeks or so, 10 days, has been nothing short of craziness,” Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said, according to CNN.
“The military needs to have a plan to not only determine what’s out there, but [to] determine the dangers that go with it,” Tester said.
Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana said the fact that the past three items have been smaller than the suspected spy balloon means little.
“It doesn’t give me much safe feelings knowing that these devices are smaller. I am very concerned with the cumulative data that is being collected. … I need some answers, and the American people need answers,” he said.
Luis Elizondo, a military intelligence officer who formerly led the Pentagon’s UFO program, said one critical issue now is to avoid “chasing our tail,” according to The New York Times.
“What’s happening now is you have low-end technology being used to harass America. It is a high-impact, low-cost way for China to do this, and the more you look up in the sky, the more you will see,” he said.
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