Our military
through the North American Aerospace
Defense Command, so called NORAD
and closely scrutinized
the air space, including
enhancing our radar to pick up m
moving objects above our country
around the world.
In doing so, they tracked 350 ob
one in Alaska,
Canada and over
Lake Huron in the Midwest.
They acted in accordance
with established parameters
for determining
how to deal with unintended
flight aerial objects in U.S.
airspace.
At their recommendation,
I gave the order to take down th
three objects
due to hazards
to civilian commercial air traff
and because we could not rule ou
the surveillance
risk of sensitive facilities.
We acted in consultation
with the Canadian government.
I spoke personally with Prime
Minister Trudeau
and from Canada on Saturday,
and just as critically
we acted out of an abundance of
and an opportunity
that allowed us to take down
these these objects safely.
Our military and the Canadian mi
are seeking to recover the debri
so we can
learn more about these three obj
Our intelligence community
is still assessing all three inc
They reported to me
daily and will continue
their urgent efforts to do so.
And I will communicate
that to the Congress.
We don't yet know
exactly what these three objects
but nothing
nothing right now
suggests they were related to Ch
spy balloon program
or that there were surveillance
from other any other country.
The intelligence community's
current assessment
is that these three
objects were most likely
balloons tied to private
companies, recreation
or research institutions studied
whether
or conducting other scientific r
When I came into office,
I instructed our intelligence co
to take a broad
look at the phenomenon
of unidentified aerial objects.
We know that a range of entities
including countries, companies
and research organizations,
operate objects at altitudes for
that are not nefarious.
Including legitimate scientific
I want to be clear
we don't have any evidence
that there has been a sudden increase
in the number of objects in the
We're now
just seeing more of them,
partially because the steps
we've taken
to increase our radars,
to narrow our radars,
and we have to keep adapting our
to delay
to dealing with these challenges
That's why
I've directed my team to come ba
with sharper rules
for how we will deal with these
objects moving forward.
Distinguishing distinguish
between those that are likely to
safety and security risk
that necessitate action and thos
do not.
But make no mistake.
If any
object presents a threat to the
security, the American people,
I will take it down
I'll be sharing with Congress
these classified policy paramete
when they are completed
and they remain classified.
So we don't give our roadmap
to our enemies
to try to evade our defenses
going forward.
These parameters will guide
what actions will take while
responding to unmanned
and unidentified aerial objects.
We're going to keep adapting the
as challenges evolve if it evolv
In addition,
we drive directing my National S
Advisor
to lead a government wide
effort to make sure we are posit
to deal safely and effectively
with the objects in our airspace
First,
we will establish
a better inventory of unmanned a
objects in space
above the United States airspace
and make sure that inventory
is accessible and up to date.
Second, we
will implement further measures
to improve our capacity
to detect unmanned object
objects in our airspace.
Third,
we update the rules and regulati
for launching and maintaining
unmanned objects
in the skies
above the United States of Ameri
And fourth,
my Secretary of State
will lead an effort to help esta
a global, global, common global
in this largely unregulated spac
These steps will lead to safer
and more secure skies
for our air
travelers, our military, our sci
and for people on the ground as
That's my job as your president,
commander in chief,
as the events of the previous da
shown,
will always act to protect
the interest of the American peo
and the security of the American
Since I came to office,
we've developed the ability
to identify, track and study hig
altitude surveillance balloons
connected with the Chinese milit
When one of these high altitude
surveillance balloons
entered our airspace
over the continental United Stat
earlier in the month.
I gave the order to shoot it dow
as soon as it would be safe to d
The military advised against
shooting it down over land
because of the sheer size of it.
It was the size of multiple scho
and opposed the risk
to people on the ground.
If it were shot down where peopl
Instead, we tracked it closely.
We analyze these capabilities
and we learn more about how it o
because we knew its past.
We were able to protect sensitiv
against collection.
We waited until it was safe to o
which would not only protect civ
but also enable us to recover
substantial components
for further analysts,
for further analytics.
And then we shot it down,
sending a clear message clear me
The violation of our sovereignty
is unacceptable.
We will act to protect our count
And we did.
Now, this past Friday,
we put restrictions on six firms
that directly support
the People's Republic Liberation
Army People's
People's Liberation Army
Aerospace Program.
That includes airships and ballo
denying them access to U.S.
technology.
We briefed our diplomatic partne
and our allies around the world,
and we know about China's progra
and where their balloons have fl
Some of them have also raised
their concerns directly with Chi
Our exports have lifted componen
from the Chinese balloons
payload off the ocean floor.
We're analyzing them as I speak.
And what we learn will strengthe
our capabilities.
Now, we'll also continue to enga
with China,
as we have throughout the past t
As I've said
since the beginning of my admini
we see competition,
not conflict, with China.
We're not looking for a new Cold
But I make no apologies.
I make no apologies.
And we will compete.
And we'll be responsibly manage
competition
so that it doesn't veer into con
This episode underscores
the importance of maintaining
open lines of communication
between our diplomats
and our military professionals.
Our diplomats will be engaging f
and I will remain in communicati
with President Xi.
I'm grateful for the work
in the last several weeks
of our intelligence, diplomatic
and military professionals
who have proved once again
to be the most capable in the wo
And I want to thank you all.
And look, the other thing
I want to point out
is that we are going to keep our
and the Congress
contemporaneously informed of al
and all we learned.
And I expect to be speaking
with President Xi.
And I hope we have
we are going to
get to the bottom of this,
but I make no apologies
for taking down that baloney.
Thank you very much.
Let me start with you, Colonel L
Were you satisfied with the pres
explanation that these were, in
likely a benign objects
that were shot down,
especially since we have yet to
and retrieve these objects
No, not really.
And here's
why you hinted at it,
because we haven't really been a
to retrieve
objects
from the crash sites
of these downed objects.
So we really don't know
very much about them.
It is certainly possible
that the president is completely
about these objects.
And the intel community
is completely right about them.
But the one thing that we have t
careful of
is not to mirror image
the way we do things
with what
other countries are doing,
because the distinction
between the private sector
and the public sector
in other countries
is not as profound as it is
here in the United States.
So I want to be very cautious.
These may be from a different en
They may be something
completely different.
It may be completely benign,
but I'm not convinced
that they are not
some kind of surveillance
craft of one type or another.
But we will see
as as these results
hopefully come in at some point.
Not Natasha.
A couple of the senators
we've spoken with over
the last few days have said
that the president
should come out a certain
and certainly speak
to the American people
when he has something new,
when he can tell them something
more about at least
these three most recent objects
that have been shot down.
I've been waiting for it.
I was ready to write it,
but I don't know
that we learned a lot more
anything new
than what we've already heard
from John Kirby and other offici
close to the president.
Exactly right, Victor.
I mean,
John Kirby,
who is one of the spokespeople
for the National Security
Council, did say earlier this we
that it is the preliminary asses
of the intelligence community
that these three objects
that were shot down
were not being used
for intelligence purposes
and that they were likely benign
they did not have hostile intent
and that they were likely balloo
but were not necessarily
being used for surveillance.
And that is something, of course
that the president did echo here
He did say he did
go a little bit further,
saying that they could have been
to private companies, for exampl
or used for things like weather.
But ultimately,
it was the message
that we've been hearing
over the last week,
which was that
this was done
out of an abundance of caution.
And, of course, that it was done
because they were
at a particular altitude
that was potentially dangerous.
Now, the one thing I did find
particularly interesting
about Biden's comments,
which did seem new,
is that the president
has directed his team
to come up with
policy parameters
so that they can better kind of
figure out essentially
what poses a threat in U.S.
airspace and what doesn't.
So that they're not constantly
shooting things out of the sky.
Right. Every time they see one,
this was really unprecedented
series of events
where they saw these three objec
and one after the other shot the
with U.S. fighter jets.
And these policy parameters,
the president said, will be clas
So that enemies
don't have a road map
to evade our detection.
So clearly,
moving forward,
the president has heard
some of this criticism
that this was a bit
much right and moving forward,
they want to establish
some kind of parameters
so that they're not having to do
constantly because,
you know,
the American people
as well as lawmakers were saying
that they need to know more abou
the US,
what the threshold is going to b
For actually taking these object