Lost forever, at least apparently. The United States has announced it is halting the search for the flying objects shot down by its warplanes last week, one over the arctic waters of northern Alaska and another over Lake Huron, which is believed to have sunk to its depths . Canada is still searching for a third object shot down in Canada’s remote Yukon region, but the chance of forever solving the mystery of the unidentified flying objects shot down last week is dwindling.
Launching a powerful short-range missile thousands of feet at a target the size of a small car flying over frozen water and pretending to find out what it was by salvaging the wreck sounded a bit optimistic. The White House began hinting in recent days that they might never show up.
This Friday, a week after the demolition of the first object, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admitted at a White House news conference: “It will be very difficult to find them, let alone find the remains.” , to be able to perform the forensic analysis to identify them. So I can’t promise we’ll know for sure one way or the other. [lo que eran]“.
The United States government has indicated that they were likely “benign” high-altitude objects, balloon debris, or similar objects that were at the mercy of the wind and originally served a recreational, commercial, or scientific purpose. A type of airborne debris of little consequence, although they have provoked an unprecedented response from fighter aviation on North American soil that will further fuel speculation. Yes, the salvage work on the remains of the Chinese balloon has been completed quite successfully.
US radars were by default set to look for threats in fast-moving, lower-altitude airspace, such as B. ballistic or cruise missiles or fighter jets or bombers. After the appearance of the Chinese balloon, which was first spotted in Alaska and then crossed the country from Montana to South Carolina before being shot down over the Atlantic, the radar parameters were revised and moving objects slowly began to appear at high altitude , what triggered an alarm that in retrospect seemed quite unjustified.
The flying objects episode will give rise to proposals for a new regulation. United States President Joe Biden said Thursday he wants to create a better, up-to-date inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles over the country’s airspace.
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Second, the United States will take new measures to improve its ability to detect objects in its airspace. The parameters of the radars are adjusted so that their work makes sense. Kirby indicated in his White House press briefing this Friday that Congress is being kept confidential about these adjustments but is already working on them in some ways: “We’re already using some of these parameters casually in a lot of ways in the way we’re doing in look at the sky. There are no tracks here either [de nuevos objetos] currently active,” he emphasized, adding: “We will transmit these parameters in the next few days. It won’t be long now.”
Biden also wants to review the rules and regulations for launching and maintaining unmanned objects in his skies, although that process will be slower, especially if it involves changes in the law.
In addition, he said Thursday, the US president is tasking his Secretary of State Antony Blinken with promoting internationally common global standards for this largely unregulated space that lies between a country’s distinct airspace and outer space. There is a gray area where there is no clear international settlement and which can lead to clashes and conflicts between the great powers.
“These steps will result in safer skies for our air travelers, our military, our scientists and also for the people on the ground,” Biden said Thursday after insisting he doesn’t want a new Cold War and is aiming to compete with China, but not to the conflict.
This Friday they asked Kirby when the phone call between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping could take place, but there were no specifics on the matter. “There is an open line of communication. And I don’t deny that tensions still exist, especially over the spy balloon. We do not believe that this is the appropriate time for Minister Blinken to travel to Beijing,” he said, making it clear that the call is not yet scheduled: “You have already heard the President having another conversation with the President would like Xi, as would be expected. But… but we don’t have anything on the agenda right now. And we must do it at a time when the President deems it appropriate,” he said.
Kirby has stressed the importance of keeping diplomatic lines of communication open, although he regretted that the military lines between those in charge of the armies of both countries are not, although this distancing is not with the Chinese world but as a result of the visit then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan.
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