U.S. treads carefully between downed 'objects' and Chinese balloon

Officials caution against assumptions while Beijing accuses Washington of spying

Since the U.S. shot down what Washington called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast Feb. 4, more unidentified objects have been downed over North America. © AP

YUKIHIRO SAKAGUCHI and TSUKASA HADANO, Nikkei staff writers

February 14, 2023 04:13 JST

WASHINGTON/BEIJING -- With tensions inflamed by the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon, American officials have taken pains to avoid claims about the origin or purpose of the flying objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada in the past few days.

"I would be hesitant to -- and urge you not to attribute it to any specific country. We don't know," Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, told reporters Sunday, stressing the need to recover and analyze debris from the objects.