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White House dispels panic: Crashed objects are not aliens

2023-02-14 22:44:35Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA ANITA POWELL
White House dispels panic: Crashed objects are not aliens
White House dispels panic: Crashed objects are not aliens

Less than a week after the United States shot down what officials said was a Chinese spy balloon, US military aircraft shot down three more objects of unknown origin. Chinese officials say they cannot say whether the new downed objects belong to China, but say the United States is overreacting. VOA correspondent Anita Powell reports that while Washington is looking for answers, one thing is already clear: China-US relations are damaged.

There are many questions about the three unidentified flying objects that US military jets shot down within a few days. One thing the White House can say for sure:

"There is no indication of extraterrestrial activity during these recent crashes. We wanted to make sure that the American people are aware of this, that you all know this; it's important that we say it," said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

The White House offered a theory as to why the military is ordering more of these aircraft: because these are the objects it is tracking.

"If you adjust the parameters to look for a particular thing, you're more likely to find that particular thing," said John Kirby, of the National Security Council.

On Friday, less than a week after the downing of the Chinese balloon near the east coast of the United States, US military aircraft shot down an unidentified object flying over Alaska. On Saturday, the United States cooperated with the Canadian military to shoot down another object over the Yukon Territory. And on Sunday, a third object crashed over Lake Huron.

People should not panic, Mr Kirby said.

"We do not think these latest objects posed any danger to people on the ground, and we are focused on confirming their nature and purpose," Mr Kirby said.

But as the search for the truth continues, China is reacting angrily to what it calls unfair punishment by the United States for the weather balloon that went off course and crossed the entire United States territory.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused Washington of hasty decisions. He did not say whether the last three objects were Chinese, but made a series of accusations against Washington.

"The abuse of force by the United States, the overreaction and the escalation of the situation contradict the spirit of international law and international practices. They are already inflating, exaggerating and exacerbating (the situation), using this as a basis to impose illegal sanctions on Chinese entities and organizations. China is very unhappy and strongly opposes this," said the Chinese spokesperson.

The White House said no talks were planned between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Mr Kirby said Chinese military leaders were not interested in talking to the US defense secretary. He also reiterated the position that the United States has no means of interception in China's airspace.

Analyst Emily Harding says this creates tensions with Beijing and raises serious questions for Washington - questions that Mr Kirby was unable to answer when asked on Monday.

"I think the message to Beijing is 'Hey, we got you. We know what you're doing. Leave it now'. I think the most interesting question now for the Pentagon will be, what are the operational rules for these? Suddenly we discover these objects hovering over the northern part of the United States - and will we try to shoot down every single one of them that is hovering above the airspace, or will we find a much better way to determine what is and what is not threat to national security?'' says Ms Harding.

And the conspiracy theories circulating online raise another concern, she says.

"When we have so little information for the public, it's very easy for misinformation and disinformation, for conspiracy theories to spread. There has been some sympathetic humor about it online over the weekend, but at the same time we shouldn't speculate and spread potential misinformation," says Ms Harding.

This leaves open the biggest question: when the authorities have learned what these objects are and what their activity was - then what will be done?/ VOA


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