Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: The United States (US) Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects that he would not rule out aliens and any other explanation yet, deferring it to United States intelligence experts to determine it.
Reuters asked whether he had ruled out the extraterrestrial origin for three airborne objects shot down by US warplanes in several days, General Glen VanHerck said: “I will let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I have not ruled out anything.”
“At this point, we continue to assess the threat and potential threat, unknown, that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it,” said VanHerck, head of the United States North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command.
VanHerck’s comments came during the Pentagon briefing on Sunday after a US F-16 jet shot down an octagonal-shaped object over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border.
United States official’s stance
The previous three-day incidents follow the February 4 downing of a Chinese balloon that put North American air defenses on high alert. US officials said the balloon was being used for surveillance. Another United States defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military had seen no evidence suggesting any objects in question were of extraterrestrial origin.
VanHerck said the army needed help to determine how the three latest objects were kept aloft or where they came from.
