Objects shot down by U.S. military 'almost certainly' sent by China to spy: congressman

The three objects shot down by U.S. fighter pilots over North America since Friday were “almost certainly” launched by China to spy on the United States, Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday.

Smith, D-Wash., in an interview with USA TODAY said that researchers who use balloons typically inform the Federal Aviation Administration before flying them in U.S. airspace. That didn’t happen in the three shot down over the weekend — two over the United States and one over Canada — or the large Chinese surveillance balloon destroyed Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina.

“It's almost certainly a case of the Chinese trying to come up with new or creative ways to spy on us,” Smith said. “We need to respond and block this avenue.”