WASHINGTON — The White House said it’s too early to characterize the two latest objects shot down by U.S. fighter jets over North America after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said they are believed to have been high-altitude balloons.
One of the objects was downed over Alaska on Friday and the other was brought down over Canada on Saturday, following the highly publicized shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4.
Schumer said Sunday he was briefed the previous night by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Asked on ABC’s “This Week” whether the objects were balloons, Schumer said: “They believe they were, yes. But much smaller than the first one.”
A spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said the objects didn’t closely resemble and were much smaller than the balloon from China that overflew the U.S. for days. The administration won’t definitively characterize them until the debris is recovered, according to the spokesperson.
