President Joe Biden ordered the downing of a series of mysterious “objects” in U.S. and Canadian airspace in part to avoid the risk of a midair collision with passenger jets, according to a senior White House official.
"There was a very real potential risk to civilian air traffic,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday afternoon. “The second purpose ... was even though we had no indications that any of these three objects were surveilling, we couldn't rule that out.”
“We also know that a range of entities, including countries, companies, research and academic organizations, operate objects at these altitudes for purposes that are not nefarious at all, including scientific research,” Kirby said. “That said, because we have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are, we acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our security, our interests, and flight safety.
Kirby declined to try to describe the objects and suggested that additional details about their nature may come only after a complicated recovery process. Trudeau surmised that “obviously, there is some sort of pattern” to be discerned in the recent incidents.
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