The U.S. government is taking decisive action to respond to unidentified aerial objects after multiple such objects were shot down in recent weeks, President Joe Biden announced today. Through an interagency team, the administration is investigating the objects and their source, including a Chinese surveillance balloon that had been detected in American airspace.

The balloon was first noticed near Alaska on January 28, and shot down near South Carolina on February 4. In response to this, China placed retaliatory sanctions on several U.S. defense contractors. In his remarks today, President Biden noted that nothing so far suggests that the objects had any connection to Chinese surveillance or espionage efforts.

In addition to the Chinese balloon, three more objects have been shot down, but their origin is still unknown. The first, the size of a small car, was taken out over the Arctic Ocean on February 12. A second balloon-like object of similar