The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday (local time) said that there was no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity after the United States shot down a series of unidentified objects over North American airspace this month.
Speaking in a press briefing, she said, "I just wanted to make sure we address this from the White House: I know there have been questions and concerns about this but there is no again, no indication of aliens or extra-terrestrial activity with these recent takedowns."
Since shooting down the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, the United States has shot down three more unidentified flying objects, two in US airspace and one in Canadian airspace.
The press secretary added, "I wanted to make sure that the American people knew that all of you knew that. And it was important for us to say that from here because we've been hearing a lot about it," prompting laughter from reporters in the briefing room.
She joked that she "loved ET, the movie," before handing the podium to National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby.
The objects were taken down out of an "abundance of caution," and did not pose a threat to people on the ground, were not sending communication signals and were not manned, the White House said.
The US is still working to determine the nature and purpose of flying objects that have recently been downed.
President Joe Biden has tapped National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to lead "an interagency team to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis, and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks," said Kirby.
The group -- which includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines -- is tasked with engaging "their relevant counterparts to share information and to try to gain their perspectives as well," while the administration will brief members of Congress and local officials in the meantime, Kirby said.
Biden ordered a new government-wide effort to study unidentified aerial objects as the US continues to collect and analyze debris from the downed objects.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday that the US is still working to recover debris from three unidentified objects shot down in North American airspace over the weekend.
"We're going to confirm what they are once we've collected the debris," Austin said. "But to answer your question, we've not recovered any debris from the three most recent shootdowns."
