Tipsheet

Dem Rep Has a Theory About Why We're Finding These Objects in Sky 'in Quick Succession'

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  February 13, 2023 10:00 AM

Democrat Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, offered his theory on why we’re seeing a sudden increase of objects in North American airspace.

Speaking on “Meet the Press,” the Connecticut Democrat recalled a hearing lawmakers had last year on ‘unidentified aerial phenomenon,’ noting that they learned “there is a lot of garbage" in the skies.

“It’s really not that hard,” he continued. “Certainly, countries can do it, companies can do it and do do it. Individuals with resources can put balloons up there. And so, there is a lot of garbage up there.”

His “speculative guess” as to why we’re now seeing them “in quick succession” is that we’re paying greater attention to the more unconventional objects above us. 

“[W]e're really attuned to looking for them, right? Without getting into detail, I can tell you that much of our radar, much of our sensors, are not – are really designed against the threats that most Americans are familiar with. We spent generations worried about missiles coming over the North Pole,” he said. “They move very, very quickly and don't act like balloons. We always worry about aircraft. Those of us who remember 9/11 worry about aircraft that are unidentified. The truth is that most of our sensors and most of what we we're looking for didn't look like balloons. Now, of course, we're looking for them, so I think we're probably finding more stuff."

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Himes also said he has “real concerns about why the administration is not being more forthcoming with everything that it knows” about the objects because without information, "people will fill that gap with anxiety and other stuff."