White House sets up inter-agency group to assess impact of objects crossing over North America
- Team will study ‘policy implications for detection, analysis and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks’, spokesman says
- After a Chinese balloon was shot down on February 4, the US downed three other objects over North American airspace since Friday
The White House has established an inter-agency group to address the recent objects flying over North American skies, it announced on Monday.
“The president, through his national security adviser, has today directed an inter-agency team to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing.
“Every element of the government will redouble their efforts to understand and mitigate these events,” he added.
This follows previous efforts by the Biden administration to broadly assess Chinese intelligence capabilities and to investigate the phenomenon of unidentified aerial objects, Kirby said.
02:37
Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea
Some debris from the Chinese balloon was recovered off the coast of South Carolina but no debris has yet been retrieved from the other objects as of Monday afternoon, Kirby said, attributing it at least in part to harsh weather conditions and the location of the debris fields in remote terrain.