U.S. may have shot down 3 'benign' objects, 1 errant Chinese spy balloon

The White House said Tuesday that the three objects U.S. fighter jets shot down over Alaska, Canada, and Michigan last weekend may have been harmless research balloons. "The intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. The U.S. won't know more until search teams recover the debris in remote or hard-to-reach places with frigid weather.

U.S. officials also told several news organizations that the fourth aerial object shot down this month — a huge Chinese surveillance balloon — may not have been purposefully sent to spy on the U.S. mainland after all. U.S. intelligence and military analysts tracked the balloon from its launch on China's Hainan Island and watched it head toward Guam, a U.S. territory with a military base, before unexpectedly veering north toward Alaska, U.S. officials told The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.