Biden: No evidence of "sudden increase" in unidentified objects in U.S. airspace

President Biden said Thursday that a series of unidentified objects the U.S. shot down this month do not appear to be related to the Chinese government's spy balloon program.

Driving the news: The flying objects "were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions," Biden said, citing the U.S. intelligence community's current assessment.

What he's saying: "We don't have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in number of objects in the sky," Biden said Thursday, in his most extensive public remarks to date on the recent encroachments in U.S. airspace that have captured national attention.

"We’re now just seeing more of them, partially because the steps we’ve taken to increase our radars," he added.