Array
Frustration on Capitol Hill is mounting after a string of aerial objects were shot down over U.S. and Canadian airspace in the last few days, raising a long list of questions that lawmakers say President Biden should publicly address.
Three unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have been shot down over North America since Friday, and the Pentagon has provided little information on what the objects were or where they came from.
“The president owes the American people an explanation, direct and on camera, of what we know about these ‘objects’ and what steps he’s taking to protect America’s sovereign airspace,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said in a Monday statement.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, also joined in the calls for President Biden to address the nation, noting the unprecedented nature of the military shooting down aircraft in U.S. airspace.
“NORAD’s been around almost 65 years,” he said of the command in charge of patrolling U.S. and Canadian airspace. “We’ve never shot anything down, and in eight days we’ve shot down four things. That’s a pretty big deal. It doesn’t happen every day.”
Rubio added in a tweet: “Americans need to hear directly about this from their President today.”
The White House wouldn’t commit to a public address from Biden during a briefing on Monday afternoon.
“We have been, I think, as transparent as we can be,” The White House’s national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “I won’t speak for the President’s personal speaking schedule. But, I mean, he has been deeply engaged in every one of these decisions.”
Kirby added that Biden is “directing his team to make sure we are properly consulting and briefing not just members of Congress, but state leaders as well.”
In a vacuum of information about the objects, the White House said Monday there is no evidence of “aliens or extraterrestrial activity” with the incidents.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said people were “scared” and “believing crazy things being said on the internet.”
“There is a lack of transparency from the Biden admin and simple explanations are owed to the people,” Greene wrote on Twitter.
The first UFO was shot down on Friday afternoon over Alaska, the second was taken out on Saturday over the Yukon in northwest Canada and the third over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday.
