The mystery has stoked public interest and frustration from lawmakers, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin telling reporters Monday that crews had yet to recover any debris from the three most recent incidents.
Announcing a new interagency team to study these objects, the White House said Monday that they did not pose threats to people on the ground, did not send any communication signals and did not have any maneuverability or propulsion capabilities.
The U.S. military has been using a wider range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace, taking deeper looks at more objects it might have filtered out in the past, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at the briefing.
While U.S. officials refrained from drawing any conclusions, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference Monday that “there is some sort of a pattern in there.”
The recovery of the electronics from the first downed balloon came after Beijing accused the United States of flying high-altitude balloons over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since early last year.
“It is nothing rare for U.S. balloons to illegally enter other countries’ airspace,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing Monday.
“The U.S. should first reflect upon itself and change course instead of smearing other countries,” he added.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
