President Joe Biden will address Americans on Thursday about a sophisticated Chinese balloon and three subsequent unidentified aerial objects shot down over North America this month.
Biden will deliver “remarks on the United States’ response to recent aerial objects,” the White House announced. The speech was scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (1900 GMT).
Biden will discuss the “decisive response” to what Washington says was a Chinese spying balloon, but Beijing insists was a stray weather research device, said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
He will also remark on efforts to ensure “the safety and security of the American people,” she said.
The United States has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted tracking over a series of top secret nuclear weapons sites, before being shot down just off the east coast on February 4.
In the wake of the incident, the US military adjusted radar settings to detect smaller objects and promptly discovered three more unidentified craft that Biden ordered shot down — one over Alaska, another over Canada and the third over Lake Huron off Michigan.
