Three unidentified objects shot down by the US did not appear to have been used for spying and were likely tied to benign purposes, Joe Biden has said.

Instead, the objects were “most likely” linked to private companies or research institutions, according to the US president.

Tensions have been mounting between the US and China after Washington shot down what it called a Chinese “spy” balloon over North American airspace.

The White House previously said China is running a “high-altitude balloon programme” for intelligence gathering.

Three other unidentified objects were later shot down by US fighter jets, one over Alaska, another over Canada and a third that plunged into Lake Huron.

Mr Biden said “nothing right now suggests they were related to the Chinese spy balloon programme, or they were surveillance vehicles from any other country”.

He said the intelligence community believes the objects were “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions.”

They might have been spotted due to enhanced radar in response to the Chinese balloon, he said, adding that his team were working on new parameters on when to launch missiles at such aircraft.

Read more:
China claims US balloons flew over its airspace ‘more than 10 times over the past year’
US on heightened state of alert over flying objects
Spy balloons and flying objects: A timeline of what and where fighter jets have shot down

‘We are not looking for a new Cold War’

The president said he made no apologies for protecting America’s skies and said the US would improve its capacity to detect unmanned objects in its airspace.

But he said: “We are not looking for a new Cold War with China.”

The US president said he would speak to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about the balloon, adding: “I hope we are going to get to the bottom of this, but I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”

Beijing says the 60m (200ft) balloon was for monitoring weather conditions, but Washington says it clearly was a surveillance balloon with a massive undercarriage containing electronics.

It has also claimed the US has flown 10 objects over its airspace – a claim Washington denies.

Related posts:

Biden hails Pope’s leadership in fighting climate crisis at Vatican audience Man charged with arson for setting fire to 50ft Fox News Christmas tree Man who made huge profits by inflating price of life-saving drug ordered to return £47m Infowars files for bankruptcy protection as founder faces Sandy Hook shooting defamation lawsuits Study finds denial about structural racism is linked to anti-black prejudice Priest’s claim from beyond the grave halts sale of Judy Garland’s iconic Wizard of Oz dress Senator who represented Sandy Hook begs for gun action after Texas primary school shooting NASA moon launch postponed after hydrogen leak Photo released of top secret documents uncovered in FBI search of Trump’s home ‘Double feature’: Hilary Swank to be mum for first time – with twins British actor goes missing while hiking in Californian mountains Buffalo white supremacist mass killer jailed for life in hearing disrupted by audience member