Sen. Chuck Schumer says the US believes that unknown aerial objects shot down over North America are balloons
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F-22 jets shot down unknown objects over Alaska and Canada.
Last week, an F-22 shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the United States believes that unknown objects over Alaska and Canada were balloons.
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said the United States thinks that unknown objects shot down over the United States and Canada are balloons on Sunday.
After an F-22 shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina last week, F-22 jets shot down another unidentified object over Alaska on Friday. Then, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical" by Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand, was shot down over Canada.
When asked on Sunday by host George Stephanopoulos if the objects shot down over North America the objects were balloons on ABC "This Week," Schumer answered, "They believe they were, yes."
Schumer said that President Joe Biden's administration believes the balloons were "much smaller" that the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by an F22 off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
"Both of those, one over Canada, one over Alaska, were at 40,000 feet," Schumer said on ABC "This Week." "Immediately it was determined that that's a danger to commercial aircraft which also fly at 40,000 feet."
Schumer said that he believes it was "appropriate" to shoot the objects down and that the US got "enormous intelligence information from surveilling" the first balloon "as it went over the United States."
Republicans have largely blamed President Joe Biden for "letting" the suspected Chines spy balloon come into United States airspace. Still, senior Pentagon officials said in an on-background press conference Saturday that suspected Chinese balloons entered US airspace at least three times during Donald Trump's presidency and once earlier in Joe Biden's presidency.
"Would Trump have let China fly a spy balloon over our country?" Rep. Jim Jordan wrote on Twitter. "Would Reagan? JFK? Truman? No, no, and no."
President Joe Biden told the news program Noticias Telemundo that the suspected Chinese spy balloon passing over the US was not a "major breach" of security on Thursday, according to BBC.
"They made a wise decision. They shot it down over water, they're recovering most of the parts, and they're good," Biden said.
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