Senators demand transparency from Biden following classified UFO briefing
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Senators left a classified briefing Tuesday demanding the Biden administration share with the public what it knows about the three unidentified flying objects the U.S. military shot down.
Following the White House’s decision to take down a suspected Chinese spy balloon days after it flew over sensitive military sites in Montana, the administration shot down three unidentified objects over Alaska, Canada, and Lake Huron over the weekend.
In response to calls for transparency, officials briefed all senators on the downed objects in a classified meeting on Tuesday morning.
Senators emerged from the briefing with mixed reactions. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lauded the administration’s response; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said there were “no major revelations” from the meeting, with the Pentagon still needing to collect information on the objects it had shot down.
But one message that crossed party lines was the need to update the public on what the Biden administration knows so far.
“My message is that 99% of the information that we were just briefed on, there’s no reason it can’t be shared with the American people. It wouldn’t compromise the security of this country,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also said the administration needs to be more transparent. “I think the public needs and deserves to know more. A lot of what we’ve been told are facts that the American people could know and should know, without any harm to our national security,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve urged repeatedly that on this topic and others, the administration could be more forthcoming.”
While intelligence and military officials were unable to shed light on what exactly the objects it shot down were, briefers updated senators on recovery efforts for the balloon that was taken down over the Carolina coast.
“I do think that the recovery we are seeing off the Carolinas is going to produce a lot of very valuable information,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) following the classified briefing on Tuesday. “A lot of people don’t understand the altitude challenges for going after a certain target. There’s a lot of complexity in it, but I think they’ve done a good job of getting our situational awareness to where it is today.”
Briefers told senators they have not been able to recover debris yet from the objects shot down over Alaska, Canada, and Lake Huron and did not give them a timeline of their recovery efforts.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS NO INDICATION THREE OBJECTS SHOT DOWN WERE CHINESE SURVEILLANCE
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters earlier Tuesday that a “leading explanation” that they are considering is that the three other objects that were shot down were being used by private companies or for benign purposes.
“What’s interesting to me is if it is commercial, why wouldn’t whoever launched that just resolve the issue?” Tillis asked. “I’m not aware of any public reports of any civilian or commercial entity claiming responsibility for it.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said the United States needs to pursue a new registration system when it comes to aerial objects.
“There’s a real question about whether they are educational, commercial type of balloon activity and the registration notification requirements,” Warner told reporters on Tuesday. “One of the things that appears to be a major gap is the notion of educational, other balloon activities. How is that notified to the FAA and/or the intel community?”
“My understanding is that there is not anywhere near as formal a process as there should be,” Warner added. “My hope would be that we are much more aggressive about trying to make sure that objects are up there for legitimate scientific, weather, or other purposes and that there is a much better notification process with authorities.”
Additionally, Rubio expressed concern after the White House said Monday it would create a team to study airborne objects and the possible security and safety risks they entail, given the Pentagon already has a task force to examine unidentified objects.
“I don’t think anybody needs to be concerned that something is going to happen to them today walking down the street from something overhead. I think what they should be concerned about is that their government has a process in place to analyze things in a way that allows them to get closer to the understanding of what we’re dealing with. I’m concerned right now that’s not the processes in place, that we have now created a brand new process headed by the National Security Council, when we already have an existing process.”
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While most senators acknowledged the objects did not pose an immediate danger to the public, several said the objects could be a threat to civilian aircraft.
“These were clearly operating in civilian aviation space. So, at the very least, you know, these objects were a threat to civilian aircraft,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told reporters. “They are not registered with the FAA. And for that reason alone, there’s a case to be made. They need to be taken down.”
Murphy, a key member of the Appropriations Committee, said the military would likely need additional funding to improve their ability to detect similar objects in U.S. airspace.
“They have been requesting significant upgrades to detection over-the-horizon radar capability. Obviously, Congress will take those requests more seriously,” he said.