White House officials denied that flying objects recently spotted over North America are of extraterrestrial origin during a virtual briefing with governors on Monday, according to a recording of the briefing released to media.
“There are no UFOs. This is not an invasion of the aliens,” said Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House Homeland Security Adviser, to the governors on the half-hour call. “I mean, it’s funny, but it’s not funny because people are communicating this on platforms that are widely viewed, and it’s creating fear that is unnecessary.”
The briefing came after three objects were shot down last weekend over North America, including one on Friday over northeastern Alaska, one over the Yukon territory in Canada on Saturday, and one on Sunday over Lake Huron.
General Glen VanHerck, who leads the U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, raised eyebrows after the downing of the third object was shot down Sunday when he said he hadn’t “ruled out anything,” including potential aliens.
Despite VanHerck’s statement, other officials at the White House have backed off the potential for an extraterrestrial link, with John Kirby, National Security spokesman, saying on Monday that he doesn’t believe “the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these craft.”
Feds maintain objects are not evidence of life on other planets
While the government maintains that the objects may not be evidence of life on other planets or in other galaxies, it has not determined what they are, and there are many more than was previously known.
“We are dealing with a number of objects that are not well characterized,” said Sherwood-Randall on her call with the governors.
“It’s true that there are things that are being identified that don’t resemble anything else, that largely don’t present a threat, and we have to figure out what to do about them. And it turns out there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them.”
Sherwood-Randall added that most objects are likely innocuous and range from “used car lot balloons” to aircraft launched by commercial entities.
Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser, announced an interagency task force this week to investigate the flying objects.
Currently, recovery teams are working to retrieve the three objects shot down over the weekend. According to reports, the most recent one shot down on Sunday was octagonally shaped and had strings hanging off it. The object flew at 20,000 feet, potentially dangerous to civilian aircraft.
The object downed over Yukon territory was described as “cylindrical” by Anita Anand, Canadian Defense Minister.
“Across all of the objects over the weekend, there are certain similarities in terms of characteristics or size, but they are all unique and different in their own way,” said a senior defense official on Tuesday. The official noted that they could be anything from “weather experiments” to “sky trash.”
All three of the most recent objects were significantly smaller than the 200-foot tall Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
