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February 17, 2023

Biden Remarks on Unidentified Objects Shot Down Over North America
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President Biden has made his first formal comments about the U.S.
military's downing of four objects flying over North America earlier
this month. Biden said the first object shot down was a Chinese
surveillance balloon that violated U.S. sovereignty - something he
called "unacceptable"; but that the other 3 were not believed to be
related to surveillance by a foreign power. Biden said Thursday he
planned to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the
surveillance balloon.

President Joe Biden: "This episode underscores the importance of
maintaining open lines of communication between our diplomats and our
military professionals." 

A possible source for one of the yet-to-be-identified objects is the
Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. The hobbyist club believes
one of its $12 inflatable balloons may have been shot down by a Lockheed
Martin F-22 firing a $400,000 Sidewinder missile over Canada's Yukon
Territory on February 11th. 


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