UFOs? Shoot downs? What’s fact and fiction about the recent high-altitude close encounters

Across Ohio and Pennsylvania, millions of gallons of chemicals are seeping into ground and surface water after a catastrophic train collapse. The mainstream media, however, is laser-focused on the US military’s takedown of various flying objects across North America. Since 4 February, four objects have been taken out in the US and Canada.

The initial object, a Chinese balloon, was shot down by F-22 fighter jets off the coast of South Carolina.

Pentagon works to stop the spread of conspiracy theories

Following the subsequent takedowns, few details have been released.

With such little information being reported on what type of objects have been shot down, the internet is ripe with an increasing number of conspiracy theories.

This week, in response to what appears to be an uptick in US airspace incursions, the White House and Pentagon have been asked if the objects shot down are evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Last year’s DoD report on UFOs fuels speculation

Last year, the Pentagon released a report detailing a series of incidents involving “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” that the military could not explain.

The Department of Defense says that employees spent years analyzing footage of objects that seemed to defy the laws of physics; the report investigates these events and provides details on those that still remain unexplainable. In many cases, the anomalies were chalked up to quirks with the way the equipment used to document the encounter created optical illusions. Now, with what seems like an increased presence of unidentified flying objects, social media is buzzing with theories involving extraterrestrial life.

White House debunks alien theory

John Kirby, the strategic communication coordinator at the National Security Council, said on Monday that “with respect to these crafts,” he does not “think the American people need to worry about aliens [...]. Period.” On Tuesday, he added that the working hypothesis of the US intelligence community is that the objects “could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose.”

Later this week, lawmakers will host Pentagon officials for a closed-door briefing on the latest information collected from wreckage recovery missions. After leaders on Capitol Hill have been briefed, some details may be released to the public that could help to debunk some of the more outrageous online theories.