President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States has no indication that the three aerial objects shot down in North America last week are linked to China’s spy balloon program. In that sense, he added that they are probably from private entities.

What are the unidentified flying objects that have flown over the US and Canada?
“We still don’t know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing at this time suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said from the White House. “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were likely balloons linked to private companies, recreational or research institutions studying the weather or conducting other scientific research.”

These were the first formal comments Biden has made about the objects shot down last weekend over Canada and the United States.

ANALYSIS | Why did the United States suddenly start detecting mysterious flying objects?
Biden emphasized that there is no evidence pointing to “a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky.” And while the three most recent objects appear to have been benign, he warned: “If any object poses a threat to the safety of the American people, I will shoot it down.”