In a briefing, the official reported that President Joe Biden gave instructions for the formation of that group, also responsible for determining the broader political implications of detecting, analyzing and eliminating such devices that pose security risks.

According to The Hill newspaper, the team’s work will also include contacts with private sector companies that make weather balloons or other craft like the objects shot down this weekend.

As Kirby pointed out, this will allow “redouble their efforts to understand and mitigate these events.”

The US Army shot down three unidentified aerial devices in recent days: the first last Friday, while flying over Alaska at high altitude; another cylindrical north of Canada; and a third over Lake Huron.

The United States still does not know the origin of those devices, while Kirby warned that since the objects were shot down in remote locations, it will take some time to collect the remains and assess their characteristics and capabilities.

On this day, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, ruled out the speculation of an alleged extraterrestrial component in the recent downed aerial objects.

The detection of those devices came a week after US warplanes shot down a Chinese research balloon that accidentally entered US airspace, prompting the White House to launch accusations of alleged espionage.

As clarified by the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this was a civilian device that carried out meteorological investigations and deviated from the scheduled route due to bad weather and its poor ability to self-direct.

China filed a protest with government institutions in this country rejecting the shooting down of its balloon and urged Washington to refrain from further exacerbating a situation that strained bilateral ties.

Authorities here stated that the recent objects differ from the Chinese balloon, as they flew lower and were smaller.

ef/oda/cgc