U.S. Says Three Mystery Objects Likely Private, With No China Link

Sailors recover the high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration suspects that three unidentified objects downed since last Friday served commercial purposes and weren’t used for spying, a judgment that may help ease anxiety over a Chinese balloon that traversed the U.S. before being shot down.

The intelligence community believes the objects — unlike the giant airship shot down on Feb. 4 — “could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.