The three mystery objects shot down over the United States were probably "benign".
The US have been shooting 'benign' objects down from the skies
The White House has moved to draw a distinction between them and the giant Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier this month.
Speculation has been rife about the three unidentified objects that were downed shortly after the initial spy balloon was taken out.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday (14.02.23): "The intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose."
Questions still remain about what the objects were, who sent them and how the US government might respond to unidentified airborne objects in the future.
Mystery continues to surround the original balloon as it remains unclear what spying capabilities it had or whether it was transmitting signals.
The spy balloon has caused a deterioration in relations between Washington and Beijing but Kirby says there is no indication that the other items were part of a bigger surveillance operation.
Referring to the People's Republic of China, he said: "We don't see anything that points right now to being part of the PRC spy balloon programme."
He added that it is unlikely the objects were "intelligence collection against the United States of any kind".