The world’s strongest air force was put on alert, one missile state of the art he concluded in the water and from official lips was denied the alien invasion: the US UFO hunting outfits are reminiscent of an X-Files parody.

The White House admitted today: the three “unidentified flying objects” shot down on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the northern US and Canada – on the orders of President Joe Biden – were likely “innocent balloons for commercial or research purposes ».

But after the February 4 downing of what the Americans said was a Chinese spy balloon, authorities didn’t want to risk it. Three times, considering that aviation security was at risk, they sent fighter jets: on Friday and Saturday they chose an F-22 – one of the most advanced in the air force – while on Sunday they preferred a less advanced F-16. On Friday and Saturday, in Alaska and the Canadian province of Yukon respectively, the operation was crowned with success: according to the Pentagon, the missiles (one at a time) hit the target.

But on Sunday, this time over Lake Huron in the US, the aircraft missed the first shot. It took a second missile to destroy the “object”.

“We know that the first missile, on Sunday, missed its target and we were informed that it fell into the lake,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said today.

The truth is out there

For a hole in the water, the bill is harsh: the air force used AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles for these operations. Each costs about $400,000.

And, if demolition operations are considered expensive, so are debris recovery operations from areas where access is particularly difficult. What remained of the “objects” fell either on the ice of Alaska, or in the wilds of the inhospitable Yukon, or at the bottom of Lake Huron.

President Joe Biden’s administration has already said it will await the analysis of the debris to determine precisely the type, origin and use of the downed “objects”.

In this convoluted case, Washington has only one certainty: there is no evidence of aliens or alien activity. White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said it verbatim and very seriously at Monday’s briefing.

“The truth is out there, Karin!” a reporter replied, his colleagues bursting into laughter at the reference to the famous X-Files series and FBI agents investigating paranormal phenomena.