Flying objects over Canada, U.S. not tied to Chinese surveillance, Biden says

In a speech marking his most detailed comments yet about the objects and his decision to shoot them down, Biden said he makes "no apologies" for defending American airspace.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said the three unidentified flying objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada last weekend do not appear to have come from China or any other country and did not have surveillance capabilities.

In a speech marking his most extensive comments yet about the objects and his decision to shoot them down, Biden said he makes “no apologies” for defending American airspace from foreign threats, including the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down earlier this month.

That event led NORAD, the continental air defence network, to closely scrutinize North American airspace — leading to the discovery of the three objects Biden confirmed were most likely benign.

“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said.

“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”

Biden also confirmed reports that he has directed National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an “interagency team” to review U.S. procedures on dealing with unidentified objects in the skies. The team will create a set of updated “classified policy parameters” that will be delivered to Congress and remain classified, he said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Thursday there would be “updated protocols” announced this week.

Those will also include new rules and regulations for launching unmanned objects into U.S. airspace, as well as a better inventory of those devices, Biden said.