After reports the Pentagon shot down several unidentified, unmanned objects over the U.S. this weekend, the White House appeared to to mock Republican lawmakers and right-wing conspiracy theorists trying to scare the American people, by denying any evidence of aliens.
“One last thing before I turn it over to the Admiral, I just want to make sure we address this from the White House – I know there have been questions and concerns about this,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday as she introduced National Security Council spokesperson Adm. John Kirby.
“There is no – again, no indication of aliens or extra-terrestrial activity with these recent take downs. Again, there is no indication of aliens or terrestrial activity with these recent take downs,” she said to laughter from the press corps.
“I wanted to make sure all of you knew that and it was important for us to say that because we’ve been hearing a lot about it,” she added. “I loved E.T., the movie.”
Admiral Kirby spoke for about 30 minutes mostly about the “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” (UAP) and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
“Because we have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are, we acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our security, our interests, and flight safety,” Kirby told reporters on why they were shot down.
Kirby was forced to go one step further, after a reporter urged him for a better answer about “aliens.”
“I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens, with respect to these craft,” he insisted. “Period.”
Republicans seem to have transferred their false claims about “open borders” and undocumented immigrants to a different “border” and different “aliens,” insisting now that under President Joe Biden America isn’t safe because of UFOs.
“President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people,” Arkansas GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Sunday. “He is unfit to serve as Commander in Chief.”
“In its 65 year history,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) declared, NORAD “never shot down an aircraft over U.S. airspace. Over the 10 days they have shot down 1 balloon & 3 ‘objects.'”
“Americans need to hear directly about this from their President today,” he insisted, although it’s unclear why. NORAD issued statements almost immediately over the weekend, and NSC spokesperson Kirby spoke to reporters for 30 minutes Monday afternoon.
“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will be demanding answers on these incursions into American airspace,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) announced. “The United States will not back down.”
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) hyperbolically declared we are now in “a time of crisis” because of the UAPs/UFOs: “President Biden owes the American people an explanation about the ‘objects’ violating America’s airspace. No commander-in-chief should hide behind press secretaries and anonymous sources in a time of crisis.”
Rep. John James (R-MI) went on Fox News Monday morning to baselessly declare, “things are out of control,” so he can attack President Biden.
Apparently the only Republican not making hay about the UAPs or UFOs was former Trump Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who went on Fox News to blast conspiracy theorists’ claims out of the water.
“I’m confident in saying that I doubt the aliens would travel across the universe and all of a sudden decide to conduct surveillance over Lake Huron in a balloon moving 20 miles an hour,” he said. “If that’s their plan, I think we’re in good shape.”
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This article has been updated to include Sen. Cotton’s remarks.