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Biden Admits U.S. Intel Suggests Downed Objects Are Likely Tied to Research

Biden had been facing increasing pressure from lawmakers to publicly address the issue after the U.S. shot down a spy balloon and three suspicious “objects.”

President Joe Biden acknowledged that the current U.S. intelligence assessment is that the three “objects” shot down by the Pentagon earlier this month over North America are “likely” tied to “private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather or conducting other scientific research.” The Thursday address came after Biden had faced increasing pressure from lawmakers to publicly comment on the downed Chinese spy balloon and three suspicious “objects.” Biden admitted that the Pentagon still doesn’t know what the objects’ purposes were as debris is still being recovered. “But nothing, nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program, or they were surveillance vehicles from other any other country,” he said. The Pentagon initially said it shot down at least one of the objects over concerns due to its “potential surveillance capabilities.” Biden has established an interagency team to analyze what the policy response ought to be towards unmanned airborne objects that float into U.S. airspace, a team he said will focus on improving the country’s ability to detect such objects.

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Shannon VavraNational Security Reporter

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