(WWJ) - Rumors about UFOs and aliens ran amok for days after fighter jets took down three objects flying above the U.S., including one over Lake Huron, but move over Will Smith — government officials say they believe the objects aren't out of this world.
In fact, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House doesn't even think the objects are part of a spy or foreign program either. Rather, the objects appears to be "benign."
"The intelligence community did say that they are considering or looking this - at this to be potentially benign," Jean-Pierre said in a update. "But of course we want to make sure that we get the objects…so we can get a sense of what the objects were for certain."
A National Security Council spokesperson had previously told the media that government intelligence agencies thought the "leading explanation" for the three objects brought down over North America in Alaska, Canada and the Great Lakes, were nothing more than "balloons tied to some commercial" purpose.
Officials said two missiles were fired at the object over Lake Huron, with the first one missing and landing in the water. The second missile hit its target successfully.
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Efforts to recover the object from the Great Lake were made difficult due to choppy conditions, authorities added.
While Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said on Monday she didn't believe the object was a threat to national security, it didn't stop extraterrestrial rumors from taking flight.
The three objects were fired on just days after the U.S. took down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The White House had previously said the balloon was the size of three buses, but the other objects were said to be much smaller.
The objec0 above Lake Huron was first tracked over land in Montana, then in Wisconsin, and then in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. It did not pose a military threat, defense officials said, but there were concerns that it could be a hazard to commercial aircraft due to its altitude and path.