Let’s start by looking at what kickstarted this entire charade: on January 28th, a confirmed Chinese Spy balloon traversed into the North American continent through Alaskan airspace before going above mainland Canada and then reaching the continental United States. Later, on the 2nd of February, the Department of Defense acknowledged the existence of the balloon to the public. With this announcement, a U.S. official noted that the balloon stopped its usual loitering and darted hastily toward the east coast of the United States. Despite the floating giant’s efforts, it would be shot down, revealing a payload of high-tech equipment clearly meant for intelligence purposes. Many thought that was it, but they had little idea what would come in the coming days. 

And so began our elusive trio of UFOs. The first object on appeared on February 10th flying across the coast of Alaska. It’s safe to say with the recent controversy, this object’s sky trip ended with a quick bang. The second came as quickly as the first and appeared over the Yukon territory in Canada, with the third following soon after. The third object, which was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan was thought to be a radar anomaly before sightings were reported. Massive confusion arose over the nature of these three flying objects. 

So, what were they? Well, we don’t know. However, we do know that they weren’t much like the Chinese spy balloon. It was reported that the first and third objects were not even balloons, with the second being cylindrical. It’s also safe to say that they’re not intelligence objects. Why are there so many sudden objects coming about? To put it simply, the Department of Defense has been increasing scrutiny and making its radars more sensitive due to the recent controversy surrounding the balloon. Pentagon Official Luis Elizondo stated, “What’s happening now is you have low-end technology being used to harass America— It is a high-impact, low-cost way for China to do this, and the more you look up in the sky, the more you will see”. Last month, a released public report by the intelligence community mentions that 163 unexplained balloon incidents were reported.  President Biden later addressed the situation about the unidentified objects, claiming that the objects are “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather or conducting other scientific research”. Investigations into these objects are still ongoing but some searches for the debris have been called off due to the difficult terrain.

In conclusion, it’s best to remain patient and to wait and see what, if anything will come from this. There will be no doubt that China will be put under international pressure due to this situation, but the truth is that the sky is a big place and we’re bound to see many things cross through it. If we’re lucky, maybe an alien will decide to join this balloon party if they already haven't.