The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said Monday that recent balloon incidents are part of a pattern suggesting that the Chinese regime and Russia are increasing surveillance of U.S. territory.
Earlier this month, a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon traveled over much of the United States before it was shot down by a fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Feb. 10, 11, and 12), U.S. military jets downed three objects over North America: one was shot down in northern Alaska, one in Canada’s Yukon Territory, and one was shot down near Lake Huron, Michigan.
In Sunday’s incident over Lake Huron, U.S. military fighter jets downed an object that was described as “octagonal” in shape, according to Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and alleged unnamed U.S. officials. Few details have been provided about that object, and the Pentagon has not directly responded to The Epoch Times’ questions about the shape of the Lake Huron object.
China’s foreign ministry told news outlets that it had no information on the latest three flying objects that were shot down.
“And we’ve also seen increased Chinese intelligence activities in Europe—again, different platforms. They use satellites, they use cyber, and as we’ve seen over the United States, also balloons,” Stoltenberg said.
Adversaries ‘Testing US Systems’
A former North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) official, Retired Maj. Gen. Scott Clancy, told CNN on Monday that it’s possible the object fly-bys are attempts by adversaries such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or Russia to test U.S. radar systems.“The first thing is what Gen. VanHerck, my old commander, referred to as intelligence gaps that exist with our systems of detection across North America. As he said in his briefing after the initial shootdown of the Chinese-attributed balloon, that they have since closed those gaps … I think there’s maybe a little bit more to that, but what it does is it allows these systems to be seen more often,” Clancy told the outlet.
‘Heightened Alert’
Part of the reason for the repeated shootdowns is a “heightened alert” following a spy balloon from China that emerged over U.S. airspace in late January, U.S. Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, said in a briefing with reporters Sunday.Since then, fighter jets last week also shot down objects over Canada and Alaska. Pentagon officials said they posed no security threats, but so little was known about them that Pentagon officials were ruling nothing out—not even UFOs.
“We have been more closely scrutinizing our airspace at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase,” said Melissa Dalton, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense.
VanHerck said the U.S. adjusted its radar so it could track slower objects. “With some adjustments, we’ve been able to get a better categorization of radar tracks now,” he said, “and that’s why I think you’re seeing these, plus there’s a heightened alert to look for this information.”
He added: “I believe this is the first time within United States or American airspace that NORAD or United States Northern Command has taken kinetic action against an airborne object.”
The Pentagon officials said they were still trying to determine what exactly the objects were and said they had considered using the jets’ guns instead of missiles, but it proved to be too difficult. They drew a strong distinction between the three objects shot down over this weekend and the balloon from China.
