A White House spokesman weighed in on whether Americans should be concerned about aliens amid a series of objects flying into U.S. airspace.
During a White House press briefing Monday, a reporter pointed out to John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, that the administration is seemingly ruling out the possibility of extraterrestrial activity.
“I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens, with respect to these craft. Period,” Kirby said.
He added, “I don’t think there’s anymore that needs to be said there.”
Watch Kirby’s remarks below:
NSC Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby: "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens, with respect to these craft. Period." pic.twitter.com/dZxLKIbh6D
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 13, 2023
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the issue during the briefing, saying, “I just wanted to make sure we address this from the White House: I know there have been questions and concerns about this but there is no again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.”
She added, “I wanted to make sure that the American people knew that all of you knew that. And it was important for us to say that from here because we’ve been hearing a lot about it.”
No aliens. @presssec says "There is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns. I wanted to be sure the American people knew that and it is important for us to say that from here." pic.twitter.com/oN0yamrHz2
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) February 13, 2023
The questions came after three unidentified flying objects were shot down since Friday, as The New York Times reported.
Kirby said the objects were flying lower than that of the Chinese spy balloon that entered U.S. airspace earlier this month.
According to Kirby, the altitudes of the objects ranged from 20,0000 feet to 40,000 feet.
Kirby claimed the Biden administration and the president’s instructions to the U.S. intelligence community deserve credit for finding out “China has a high-altitude balloon program for intelligence collection that’s connected to the People’s Liberation Army.”
He added, “It was operating during the past administration, but they did not detect it. We detected it.”
Tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise after China accused the U.S. of flying spy balloons into its airspace.
“Since last year alone, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than ten times without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a briefing.
Wenbin continued, “It is not uncommon for U.S. balloons to frequently take the opportunity to carry out close-up reconnaissance against China.”
Kirby denied the allegation, saying it is “absolutely not true.”
He added, “We are not flying balloons over China.”
