Mysterious flying objects shot down over North America likely not spy balloons, Biden says

wASHINGTON-President Joe Biden said Thursday that three unidentified objects shot down last weekend North American airspace were"most likely"balloon tied to private companies or research institution not part of China's surveillance spy balloon operation

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Biden, delivering his first public address on the mysterious objects amid bipartisan pressure from lawmakers demanding more information, defended having the objects shot down even if they posed no direct threat to the U.S

"We acted out of an abundance of caution and had an opportunity that allowed us to take down these these objects safely," Biden said, also stressing there's "no evidence" that more flying objects are in the sky than usual.

He said the intelligence community is still assessing objects that were shot down over Alaska, Canada's Yukon Territory and Lake Huron. "Nothing right now," he said, suggests the objects are tied to China’s spy balloon program, even though they were shot down about a week after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the Atlantic coast.

Biden said the intelligence community's "current assessment" is that the three objects were "most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research."