On 2/1/2023, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked National Security Council spokesman Adm. John Kirby, “John, so the Pentagon ordered this new object be taken down over Alaska —
MR. KIRBY: The President ordered it.
Heinrich: The President ordered it. So, is it a fair takeaway then that the Pentagon regrets not taking down the first balloon before it crossed the entire U.S.?
MR. KIRBY: Well, I’m not going to speak for the Pentagon. I can tell you that the President doesn’t regret the way that we handled the first balloon. That time we —
First of all, apples and oranges here, in terms of size.
As I said, this was the size of a small car. And it was over a very sparsely populated area, but also, more critically, over — it was over water — water space when we ordered this down, as we did the — as we did the last one.
But a completely different size. And the debris field for this we expect to be much, much smaller than would have been for the other one. That’s difference one.
Difference two: We knew for a fact that the PRC balloon that we shot down last week was, in fact, a surveillance asset and capable of surveillance over sensitive military sites and that it had self-propulsion and maneuver capabilities. There’s no indication that this one did.
The other one — the first one — was able to maneuver and loiter, slow down, speed up. It was a very — it was very purposeful, that flight path, within inside the — inside the jet stream.
Heinrich: But that would suggest that maybe you should have taken it out —
MR. KIRBY: And —
Heinrich: — over Alaska too, though? But, well —
MR. KIRBY: Well, I think — look, the Pentagon has already spoken to this question about whether or not they should have or could have shot it down over Alaska airspace. So I would refer you to — there was hours and hours of testimony yesterday on that.
Heinrich: On the communications, though, we still don’t know — and correct me if I’m wrong — we don’t know what intelligence or communications could have been collected or what devices they were targeting, as I understand it. So, that being said, how can the President say it was not a major breach? We don’t know that.
MR. KIRBY: What we do know is — we knew the basic flight path of this thing. And we were able to take steps at sensitive military sites that we believed would be along the flight path to significantly curtail any intelligence ability that the Chinese could get — get from — from the balloon — certainly curtail anything that would be above and beyond, you know, what they normally try to collect through other means.
Reporter: John. I have more follow-ups on the Lula visit as well as the assistance the U.S. is providing to Turkey. But really briefly, can you speak to rumors that there is another Chinese balloon above Alaska or any other parts of U.S. territory that the U.S. shot down?
MR. KIRBY: So, I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours. Alt- — the object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.
Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object. And they did, and it came inside our territorial waters. Those waters right now are frozen — but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters.
Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour.
Reporter: So, to follow up on what you just said about civilian aircraft, is that what you meant initially when you said there was a reasonable threat to shoot it down?
MR. KIRBY: There was — yes.
Reporter: Or was there something else?
MR. KIRBY: My exact words were “a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.”
Reporter: Okay. And to — given what you said earlier about intent with regard to the Chinese spy balloon, does the U.S. give any credence to the Chinese argument that the balloon accidentally veered off course and ended up where it did?
MR. KIRBY: The — which one? You’re talking about the one from last week?
Reporter: The spy balloon. Yeah.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah. There — say that again. Was it —
Reporter: Does the U.S. give any credence to the Chinese argument that this thing accidentally veered off course and ended up where it did?
MR. KIRBY: No.
Reporter: So, was it targeting specific places? Was it targeting military sites?
KIRBY: What we know is that the flight path executed took it over sensitive military sites. What we also know is that it could maneuver; that it had propulsion capability and steerage capability & could slow down, speed up; that it was on a path to transit over sensitive military sites.
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WH Reiterates Biden Not Regret Not Immediately Downing Chinese Spy Balloon, High Altitude Object Shot Down Over Alaska