By Tim Binnall
President Biden addressed the nation on Thursday regarding the trio of unidentified objects that were shot down by U.S. fighter jets last weekend, though many questions surrounding the situation remain unanswered. He explained that, following the provocative flyover of America by China's spy balloon earlier this month, NORAD "closely scrutinized our airspace, including enhancing our radar to pick up more slow-moving objects above our country." This, in turn, led to the detection of the three UFOs, which were subsequently shot down since they posed "a hazard to civilian aircraft and because we could not rule out the surveillance risk to sensitive facilities."
As for the nature of the UFOs, Biden indicated that "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." On the contrary, he reiterated earlier reports that the intelligence community currently believes that the objects were "most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research." In an attempt alleviate concerns from the public, the president stressed that "we don't have any evidence that there is a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky."
Instead, he observed, "we're now just seeing more of them partially because the steps we've taken to increase our radar" capabilities. Biden went on to say that he has "directed my team" to develop "sharper rules" for how to deal with these objects and distinguish whether or not they are nefarious in nature. "If any object poses a threat to the safety and security of the American people," the president declared, "I will take it down." Biden pledged to share these details with Congress, but noted that the proverbial rules of engagement will be kept classified so that our enemies do not know "how to evade our defenses."
Beyond that, Biden revealed that he has "directed my national security advisor to lead a government-wide effort to make sure we are positioned to deal safely and effectively with the objects in our airspace." Among the steps set to be enacted are the establishment of "a better inventory of unmanned airborne objects," improving our capabilities to detect such UFOs, and an update on the "rules and regulations" concerning these objects. Additionally, the president said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will "lead an effort to help establish common global norms in this largely unregulated space." Biden wrapped up his remarks by revisiting the downing of the Chinese spy balloon which kicked off the strange saga of the last few weeks.
Unfortunately, the president's address to the nation did not provide any clarity regarding the nature of the objects that were taken out last weekend, though one imagines that this matter may be resolved at a later time when their debris is recovered. For UFO enthusiasts hoping for a cinematic moment wherein the President of the United States announces to the world that "we are not alone," the remarks were undoubtedly disappointing as the topic of extraterrestrials was never broached during the nine-minute-long speech. However, optimism among students of the phenomenon remains high as the government's interest in unidentified aerial objects seems to be only intensifying.