Fred Fleitz, the National Security Council's onetime chief of staff under former President Donald Trump, didn't glean any concrete statements from the White House's Monday explanation of three Unidentified Flying Objects recently being shot down over American or Canadian airspace.
At the same time, Fleitz praised White House officials for not throwing out odd suggestions of extra-terrestrials nearly inhabiting planet Earth — unlike U.S. Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command.
"Space aliens became a big story on CNN. That's why people should sign up for Newsmax ... because you don't run such fake news," Fleitz told Newsmax Monday afternoon, while appearing on "John Bachman Now" with hosts John Bachman and Bianca de la Garza.
"The first spy balloon appeared to be a significant spy platform. These other objects, or balloons, were at a lower altitude," explained Fleitz. "They were not maneuverable. They might have been weather balloons. They may not be Chinese."
Like other private American citizens, Fleitz has been frustrated with the Pentagon and Biden administration being less than forthcoming with the public, in terms of what the U.S. military has been shooting down in various North American locales.
But Fleitz has perhaps more empathy for members of the House Intelligence Committee, including committee chair Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who have become exasperated by Congress briefing intelligence members "through our television sets."
"As as a former intelligence analyst, I don't want to draw any conclusions what these objects are, or even if they belonged to the Chinese, until we get more facts," cautioned Fleitz. "Too many people are saying too much without any information."
Fleitz continued: "It's very possible these new objects are part of a Chinese skynet of drones or balloons — but we just don't know yet. On the other hand, they may be weather balloons that are permitted under international treaty, but [President] Joe Biden is just shooting from the hip because he feels that's the way he should handle it ... because he was hurt so badly" from the negative reaction to the first spy balloon, which traversed through Alaska, western Canada, and a large swath of the continental U.S., before being shot down near the Atlantic Ocean.
"I'm very suspicious of what's going on ... and we're owed a lot of explanations here," added Fleitz.
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