‘No indication of aliens’ in spate of shoot-downs: White House

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was compelled Monday to publicly say the US has “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity” tied to the military’s downing three unidentified flying objects over North America.

President Biden’s chief spokesperson made the clarifying statement a day after a top Air Force general said he couldn’t rule out such a close encounter.

“I just want to make sure we address this from the White House,” Jean-Pierre said at the start of her regular press briefing.

“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.”

The trio of shootdowns — off Alaska’s Arctic coastline Friday, over Canada’s Yukon Territory Saturday and over Lake Huron on Sunday — follow the downing of a high-altitude Chinese spy balloon Feb. 4 off South Carolina’s coast.

Authorities have not yet recovered any wreckage from the three unidentified objects or released imagery from the fighter jets that inspected and then shot them down.

The Pentagon and White House also have not characterized the three objects as balloons or other specific types of aircraft, but described them as smaller and lower-flying than the Chinese balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses. 

Officials say debris from the first unidentified object, described as the size of a small car, likely landed on Alaska’s offshore ice while the second two debris fields are believed to be in the Canadian wilderness.

“I loved ‘E.T.’ the movie,” President Biden’s top spokesperson added, “but I’m sure going to leave it there.”

Amid the laughter, veteran journalist James Rosen of Newsmax quipped “the truth is out there,” using a line from the 1990s space alien visitor-themed TV series “The X-Files.”

Later in the briefing, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed to Rosen that the disavowal of aliens was sincere.

“My understanding is that the top officials of the Pentagon, when asked explicitly if they were ruling out any kind of extraterrestrial presence, said they weren’t ruling anything out and yet at the beginning of today’s briefing, albeit with her usual winning smile, Ms. Jean-Pierre seemed to rule out any extra terrestrial activity,” Rosen said.

Kirby replied, “I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these craft. Period. I don’t think there’s any more that needs to be said there.”

The exchange quickly gained traction on social media.

“And that’s how the movie starts…” one Twitter user wrote.

Another suggested: “John Kirby looks like an actor in a Sci-Fi film where the Central Casting US Politician comforts us from the notion of aliens, then dies in a blast from the aliens.”

Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, the head of US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command (NORCOM), said Sunday that he couldn’t rule out aliens.

“I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out.” VanHerck said.

Officials say Biden ordered the military to shoot down the objects after determining all three were unmanned and say it’s unclear who launched them and what if any propulsion or equipment they had. 

The US has not specifically blamed China or any other country.

“They did not appear to have any self-propulsion. So the likely hypothesis is they were being moved by the prevailing winds,” Kirby said.

The White House had faced withering criticism from both parties after he allowed the Chinese balloon to cross from Alaska through to South Carolina unmolested.

“Because we have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are,” Kirby said, “we acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our security, our interests and flight safety.”