"I gave the order to take down these objects, and couldn't rule out the risk of surveillance," Biden said.
Fighter jets shot down at least four aerial objects, including a Chinese spy balloon that flew across country from Alaska to South Carolina. Three more objects of unknown origins were shot down over the U.S. and Canada in recent days.
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The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. (Reuters/Randall Hill)
The U.S. is in the process of recovering pieces of the Chinese balloon, officials said.
But debris from the three other objects shot down over Alaska, Canada's Yukon territory and in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron "are lost," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday.
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"The remnants are in very difficult terrain with low temperatures," he said. "They haven't been able to find them."
Officials have said they don't know what the last three flying objects were or their origins.