The United States says the large Chinese balloon down on February 4 was obviously a spy craft, adding that it is currently analysing the debris plucked from the Atlantic Ocean.
The White House has responded to growing and at times fevered speculation over the shooting down of unidentified aerial objects by saying the targets could be anything from commercial craft to espionage devices, while denying that US balloons spy on China.
After mounting pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to explain the unprecedented situation that has seen an alleged Chinese spy balloon and three mystery objects shot down in North America in just over a week, officials appeared sure of only one thing: It's not aliens.
"I just wanted to make sure we address this from the White House," Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday at the first full-blown briefing since the latest shoot-down of an unidentified object on Sunday.
"There have been questions and concerns about this but there is no -again, no- indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity."
What actually is going on, however, remains unclear.
According to the US government, the first of the four objects - a sophisticated, high-altitude balloon shot down on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina - was part of an ongoing, global "fleet" of Chinese espionage balloons.
China denied this, calling the huge balloon an errant weather research craft, and lashed out at Washington on Monday. Beijing said more than 10 US balloons entered Chinese airspace "without any approval" over the last year.
As for another high-altitude balloon spotted in Latin America, China says that was a civilian flight test device.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the US is "not flying surveillance balloons over China."
READ MORE: Biden says US 'not looking for conflict' with China
'Spy craft'
The United States says the large Chinese balloon down on February 4 was obviously a spy craft and that the debris is currently being plucked from the Atlantic Ocean for analysis.
Crews have recovered important sensor and electronics parts from the balloon, as well as large parts of the structure, the US military said Monday.
The other three unidentified objects - shot down on Friday over Alaska, Saturday over the Yukon in Canada, and Sunday over Lake Huron on the US-Canadian border - were much smaller, less sophisticated, and were flying lower than the Chinese balloon from earlier this month.
US officials know little about them - not even to whom they belonged.
"Countries, companies, research and academic organizations operate objects at these altitudes for purposes that are not nefarious at all, including scientific research," Kirby said.
China tensions
In Washington, the extraordinary events are fueling already intense suspicion about China across both the Democratic and Republican parties - a trend likely to grow as the 2024 presidential election approaches.
The diplomatic fallout has already been substantial, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceling a rare visit to Beijing.
The State Department said China was "scrambling to do damage control" and that the communist government "has failed to offer any credible explanations for its intrusion into our airspace."
READ MORE: Second Chinese 'surveillance' balloon transiting Latin America
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