White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. military did not find evidence of “aliens” after shooting down several unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
The military shot down at least three UFOs in the past several days after downing a Chinese surveillance balloon on Feb. 4. U.S. fighter jets took down a mysterious object over the shores of Alaska on Friday, another over Canada on Saturday and a third over Lake Huron on Sunday.
“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 extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” she said at Monday’s press briefing, drawing laughter from the gallery. “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.”
“I loved “E.T.” the movie, but I’m just gonna leave it there,” she concluded. (RELATED: Oops! Somehow The ‘Intelligence’ Community Tripled The Amount Of UFO Sightings On The Books)
North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) chief General Glen VanHerck said Sunday that he could not rule out an extraterrestrial origin for the objects, Reuters reported.
White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby said the military shot the objects down to prevent a potential risk to civilian air travel and to protect national security. The military has assessed that the objects did not pose an immediate threat to civilians on the ground and did not send communication signals.
The altitudes of the objects were significantly smaller than the Chinese spy balloon shot down over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The object downed Sunday over Lake Huron transited at an altitude of 20,000 feet, lower than the other three objects.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is on “heightened alert,” which may account for NORAD picking up strange objects in recent days, Kirby said Monday.