E.T.'s not taking the rap for this one.
The titular character of Steven Spielberg's iconic 1982 film actually got a mention during a White House press briefing on Feb. 13 when the proceedings took a detour into Hangar 18.
The subject was the recent spate of unidentified flying objects that have been creeping into the nation's skies.
The U.S. military shot down an unidentified object shot down Sunday over Lake Huron, the fourth flying object in less than two weeks to have been downed over North American airspace.
The story began with a Chinese spy balloon that was blasted off the coast of South Carolina Feb. 4.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sought to eliminate one potential source of the invaders.
"I know there have been questions and concerns about this but there is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," she said, as journalists chuckled. "Wanted to make sure that the American people knew, that all of you knew that. and it was important for us to say that from here because we've been hearing a lot about it."
"I love E.T. the movie, but I'm just going to leave it there," Jean-Pierre added.
The UFO factor may have stemmed from comments by Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command,
"I’m not going to categorize them as balloons," he said, according to NBC News. "We’re calling them objects for a reason. I'm not able to categorize how they stay aloft."
VanHerck declined to rule out aliens, saying. “I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out.”
A senior administration official described the object shot down over Lake Huron as an octagonal structure with strings hanging off but no discernible payload.
At least one reporter asked the obvious question in response to Jean-Pierre's flying saucer denial.
"Would you tell us?" he asked.
