US spy balloons: Mystery surrounds four flying objects shot down by the US: Why have they been shot down? Are they Chinese spy balloons? What has been said?

Mystery surrounds four unidentified objects that have been shot down over North America, with the US military stating that “nothing has been ruled out.”

The US military has said it unsure what three flying objects it shot out of the skies over North America were - and how they were able to stay aloft.

The downing of a huge Chinese balloon off the US coast, followed by the shootdowns of two smaller objects over Alaska and Canada – and another over Lake Huron on Sunday – has raised concerns about North American security and a straining relations with China.

China said the initial balloon, which drifted for days through US skies before being shot down on 4 February by an F-22 jet, was an unmanned airship made for meteorological research that had been blown off course – however no indication has been given on the other unidentified objects with US military stating they were unsure what the three flying objects it shot out of the skies over North America were.

Unidentified objects over North America – What are they and why are they being shot down?

While the US waited a number of days before shooting down the first Chinese balloon, they have been more decisive with the second and third objects.

Since that first incident, American fighter jets have shot down three further high-altitude objects in as many days.

President Biden ordered an object to be shot down over northern Alaska on Friday, and on Saturday a similar object was shot down over the Yukon in north-western Canada.

Two of the objects shot down were described as about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, while the third, which was shot down over Michigan was described as an octagonal structure with strings hanging off it.

On Sunday, US president Joe Biden ordered US warplanes to down the object “out of an abundance of caution” with the object not deemed to be a military threat.

Why have so many objects been shot down?

The US military said that they had shot down the fourth object as it was traveling at 20,000ft (6,100m) and it could have interfered with commercial air traffic – however, the Pentagon have also said that they have been more closely scrutinising the radar since the first balloon discovery – with many speculating that the activity may have been ongoing for some time amid claims that the balloons were part of a “fleet” that has spanned five continents.

It has been claimed that at least three balloons are now known to have briefly overflown US territory during Donald Trump’s administration and were undetected at the time.

Experts and analysts have also speculated that the activity in North America may be the start of a major Chinese surveillance effort targeting foreign military capabilities ahead of possible tensions over Taiwan in coming years.

Why is there a lack of clarity on what the objects show down over North America are?

The US and Canada are working to recover the remnants, but the search in Alaska has been hampered by Arctic conditions – with a lack of clarity over exactly what the objects are.

The US military in a statement said: “Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow and limited daylight, are a factor.” as recovery teams backed by a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft search for debris from the third object that was shot down on Saturday.

Only the first object so far has been attributed to Beijing after military teams scouring the shallow waters off South Carolina for the first object recovered a large piece of balloon, with a defence official confirming that the US had communicated with Beijing about the first object, after receiving no response for several days.

The US military commander General Glen VanHerck said that there was no indication of any threat but added he could not determine how the latest three objects shot down over the past three days were staying aloft, adding he was not calling them balloons for a reason.

General Glen VanHerck said: "I'm not going to categorise them as balloons. We're calling them objects for a reason.

"What we are seeing is very, very small objects that produce a very, very low radar cross-section," he added.

A White House National Security spokesperson said: "These objects did not closely resemble, and were much smaller than, the [4 February] balloon and we will not definitively characterise them until we can recover the debris.”

Are objects shot down over US alien or extra-terrestrial?

Many have speculated that the objects are alien, with speculation as to what the objects may be has intensified in recent days, by the refusal of the US military to be drawn in or ruling out of extra terrestrial activity.

General VanHerck when asked if it was possible the objects are aliens or extra-terrestrials said: "I will let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out,"

"I haven't ruled out anything at this point."

US-China relations

Following the incident, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a visit to Beijing which many had hoped would put the brakes on the sharp decline in relations over Taiwan, trade, human rights and threatening Chinese actions in the disputed South China Sea.

Part of the reason for the repeated shootdowns is a “heightened alert” following the alleged Chinese spy balloon, General Glen VanHerck, head of North American Aerospace Defence Command and the US Northern Command, said in a briefing with reporters.

The United States has since placed economic restrictions on six Chinese entities it said are linked to Beijing’s aerospace programmes as part of its response to the incident.

The US House of Representatives also voted unanimously to condemn China for a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty and efforts to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns”.

Mr Wang repeated China’s dismissal of such claims, saying: “The frequent firing of advanced missiles by the US to shoot down the objects is an over-reaction of over-exertion.”

US Spy Balloons?

China said that more than 10 US high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace without its permission during the past year, following Washington’s accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin gave no details about the alleged US balloons, how they had been dealt with, or whether they had government or military links.

“It is also common for US balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” he said at a daily briefing.

“Since last year, US high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.”

Mr Wang said the US should “first reflect on itself and change course, rather than smear and instigate a confrontation”.

It has accused the US of overreacting by shooting it down and threatened to take unspecified action in response.

Have Chinese balloons flown over the UK?

The Prime Minister declined to be drawn on the possibility of similar incidents in UK airspace.

“People should be reassured that we have all the capabilities in place to keep the country safe,” he said.

Transport minister Richard Holden earlier suggested that it was “possible” that Chinese spy balloons might already have been been used over the UK.

The Government will do “whatever it takes” to keep the UK safe from the threat of spy balloons, Rishi Sunak has said.

It come after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced Britain will conduct a security review after a series of objects in western airspace was shot down by the US military, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

The Prime Minister said that “national security matters” prevented him from commenting in more detail, but insisted that the UK was in “constant touch” with allies.

UK – China relations

Downing Street said that the UK was “well prepared” to deal with security threats to British airspace, with threats judged on a “case-by-case” basis.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman did not use Mr Holden’s word “hostile” to describe China, but indicated that the foreign policy designation of the country will be reviewed as part of the update to the integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy.

“China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests.

“It is a challenge that grows more acute as it moves to even greater authoritarianism.

“You will know we are updating the Integrated Review and it will take into account some of these evolving challenges we are seeing,” the spokesman said.

Mr Wallace said on Sunday that the UK and its allies would “review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security”.

“This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse,” the Defence Secretary said.

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said China was “exploiting the West’s weakness” with the potential spy balloons.

What is a spy balloon?

A spy balloon is a gas-filled balloon equipped with sophisticated cameras and imaging technology which collects information through photography and other imaging of the ground below.