'Quite a lot' of Chinese spy balloons have been in our skies for a while – but it's NOT aliens, Ben Wallace says | The Sun
February 15, 2023LOTS of possible spy balloons have been in our skies for a while but it's NOT aliens, Ben Wallace said today.
The Defence Secretary is looking into the string of rogue objects in the skies – after a handful were shot down over the US and Canada this week.
But he stressed that it was not a new phenomenon and actually there were lots of objects floating around high in the sky.
Rishi Sunak said yesterday he would be prepared to shoot down one over the UK, if necessary.
The PM vowed to do "whatever it takes" to protect UK airspace from hostile flying objects.
Speaking to the media at a NATO summit in Brussels, Mr Wallace said: "Apparently our skies have quite a lot of balloons in them quite a lot of times of the year.
"It's a bit like sort of space debris, but it's in our atmosphere.
"So I think we'll just need to get the details and I'll share what I can publicly but I don't see any signs of ET."
He said he was doing a "stock check" about the balloons and "what we could do about it".
He added: "The enemy is very clever. The enemy always looks at places that we're not. "
Last week Mr Wallace told The Sun that Chinese balloons could have spied on the UK ALREADY, and he would have shot them down if they were spotted.
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China said today it would take measures against the US after they shot down one of their balloons – after they claimed it was just a weather vessel.
It was taken down by an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of America last week.
Officials said the balloon had flown over areas in Montana containing sensitive airbases and nuclear missiles in underground silos.
Montana is home to the Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses one of the three nuclear missile fields in the US. It is home to 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) silos.
The Chinese government claimed the balloon was "for weather research" and inadvertently crossed into US territory due to wind gusts.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "China will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and its legitimate rights and interests."
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