WASHINGTON D.C. – White House officials said there is “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity” linked to the unidentified objects that have recently been shot down by the United States military.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC spokesperson John Kirby spoke about the issue during the White House’s daily press briefing on Monday.
Aliens?
During the briefing, Jean-Pierre spoke about the earthquake in Turkey and Syria before turning it over to Admiral John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
Just before Kirby hit the podium, Jean-Pierre addressed the rumors of possible alien activity related to the recent takedowns over the U.S.-Canada border in Alaska, over the Yukon Territory in Canada, and most recently, on Sunday over Lake Huron.
Read: Everything we know about the unidentified object shot down over Lake Huron
Rumors of extraterrestrial activity took off Sunday evening and throughout Monday after the U.S. Department of Defense held a briefing where Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, responded to a question about possible alien activity.
When asked about ruling out aliens or extraterrestrials, VanHerck said, “I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven’t ruled out anything. At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threats unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it.”
Related: Official: US, Canada recovering debris from Lake Huron to learn more about downed aerial object
Updates from NSC
During the White House daily briefing, Kirby addressed several questions about the various takedowns, but when asked specifically about the object over Lake Huron, and whether it was “octagonal,” he said officials do not know what it looked like, what its purpose was, or who owned it.
In regards to physical appearance, Kirby could only say that it was “not very big.”
Kirby did say that, unlike the identified surveillance balloon that was shot down near South Carolina, these unidentified objects were not being maneuvered, nor did they have any kind of self-propulsion.
He said the best hypothesis is that these objects were being carried by the wind.
Kirby received multiple questions on the decisions to shoot down the unidentified objects and why we’re seeing more of them in the last few days.
Kirby said decisions to shoot the objects down came after consultation with both the U.S. military and the Canadian government. He also said President Joe Biden has been deeply engaged in the decisions and has been staying on top of the issue.
When deciding to shoot the objects down, Kirby said the most recent three posed a hazard to civilian air traffic due to low altitude.
In addition, he said although there have been no indications of surveillance from the unidentified objects, the Department of Defense could not rule it out.
When asked about why we’re seeing more objects, Kirby said we are hearing about more of them because we are actively looking for more. Radar has been adjusted to continuously look for low-speed and low-altitude objects while we are on high alert following the spy balloon.
The spokesperson said there were no active tracks as of Monday, Feb. 13.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been searching Lake Huron for debris throughout the day and believes the object landed on the Canadian side of the lake.
Following the recent increase in unidentified aerial objects, the Biden administration announced it is forming an interagency group with a goal of addressing the spate of objects in the sky.
“The president, through his national security adviser, has today directed 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,” Kirby said.
Also: Dept. of Defense believes object shot down over Lake Huron is same as spotted in Montana