The US Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said on Sunday after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects that he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to US intelligence experts.
“At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threat, unknown, that approaches North America in an attempt to identify it,” said VanHerck, head of U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command.
VanHerck’s comments came during a Pentagon briefing on Sunday after a US F-16 fighter jet shot down an octagonal-shaped object over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border.
The incidents over the past three days follow the Feb. 4 downing of a Chinese balloon that put North American air defenses on high alert. US officials said that the balloon was being used for surveillance. Another US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military had seen no evidence suggesting any of the objects in question were of extraterrestrial origin.
VanHerck said the military was unable to immediately determine the means by which any of the three latest objects were kept aloft or where they were coming from.
“We’re calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason, said VanHerck.
