“What, Me Worry?”

Joe Biden alleged on Thursday, 16 February 2023 that no evidence exists by which to tie three objects shot down in North American sovereign air space on 10, 11, and 12 February respectively to China’s spy balloon program. Rather, Biden contends the as-of-yet unidentified flying objects are the property of private entities.

Speaking from the White House, Biden prevaricated: “We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country.” The former vice president continued: “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”

The comments were Biden’s first formal remarks pertaining to the unidentified aerial objects, and belied the reticent tenor his administration has maintained vis-à-vis the successive unauthorized violations of U.S. airspace by objects alternately identified as Chinese intelligence-gathering devices and dismissed out of hand.

On 05 February, White House representatives conceded fear of provoking escalation in diplomatic and military tensions between the U.S. and China had compelled Biden to permit a Chinese spy balloon to pass uncontested over most of the contiguous United States—overflying missile installations, military bases, nuclear power facilities, and similarly sensitive defensive and civilian properties.

The White House’s inaction has been broadly condemned by Capitol Hill lawmakers and Americans concerned with U.S. sovereignty and national security.

Biden denied the three objects detected and consecutively brought down between 10 and 12 February occasioned “a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky,” but blustered nonetheless: “If any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down.”

Biden asserted he had directed his team to devise “sharper rules for how we will deal with these unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not.”

Biden stated also that had directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead a “government-wide effort” to determine means by which to address future encounters with high-altitude objects.

Purportedly, the Biden administration has called for the establishment of an improved inventory of unmanned aerial objects within U.S. airspace, as well as the implementation of regulations and protocols germane to encounters with such. What’s more, the Biden White House ostensibly seeks to imbue its as-of-yet unrealized inventory, regulations, and protocols with the weight of international convention, connoting the institution of common global norms pertaining to UFO reckoning and interception.

Biden also expressed his intention to bring the matter before Chinese President Xi Jinping.

FMI: www.whitehouse.gov