Rumors, theories spread about unidentified object shot down over Lake Huron

Until we know for sure what was blasted out of the sky Sunday over Lake Huron, expect some theories — a lot of theories. And, experts fear, some of the more far-fetched ones are likely to spread on the internet faster than the truth can shoot them down.

"We are on high alert for everything," U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, told WDIV-TV, when the former CIA officer was asked Monday morning about the object at an event in Howell. She said she didn't know whether it was connected to international espionage or academic research. "We are watching our skies much more closely."

Later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there is "no indication of alien or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns."

And John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications for the National Security Council, added they are still "working to understand" the recent "high altitude, low-speed craft" that were shot down, adding he "can’t go into details."

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As the Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard search for the object's wreckage, the two groups for whom the unknown object seem to be fascinating the most are those that believe in extraterrestrial aliens and that the government is covering up knowledge of them, the Area 51 folks, and those that fear foreign governments, particularly China, have been spying on us, and that, too, has been covered up.

"I would initially describe them as rumors," Wayne State University distinguished professor Matthew Seeger said Monday morning of the various theories that are emerging in the absence of official explanations. "A rumor develops where there is inadequate information about an important topic. And clearly, we have inadequate information about these objects."

The informational voids lead to uncertainty and fear, and that, Seeger said, leads people to grasp for explanations that often feed conspiracy theories, and long-standing beliefs about what powerful people and institutions are concealing from them.

Was it a 'real UFO?'

In short, here's what we know — or have been told, those suspicious of the government would say — about what happened.

An unidentified flying object — UFO — that had been tracked across Michigan was shot down by military jets before 3 p.m. Sunday over Lake Huron under the president's orders. The object, whatever it was, was 20,000 feet over Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The wreckage, officials said, will be recovered and analyzed.

The military said Sunday it wasn't ruling out anything, including the existence of extraterrestrials, but its statement made no mention of an alien spaceship and hinted that it was most likely some sort of spycraft that was wafting its way across the country and one of the Great Lakes afforded the best opportunity to bring it down safely.

The fact that the military could shoot down the object and that it wasn't doing "crazy maneuvers," makes it unlikely that it was extraterrestrial or "super unusual," said Dr. Mark Rodeghier, the scientific director of the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago.

"In the history of the UFO subject, we have never been successful in trying to successfully down a UFO — a real UFO," he said, meaning an extraterrestrial craft. In those cases, he said, the aircraft sensors went haywire. "Everything points to the fact they were terrestrial. That said, I'm still interested in what happened."

Long before Sunday afternoon, there have been UFO sightings and worries that the government wasn't telling the truth about it.

In 1966, then-U.S. House Minority Leader Gerald Ford urged Congress to investigate a "rash of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects" in Michigan. He said Americans were increasingly alarmed by UFO stories. He was unsatisfied by an Air Force explanation attributing sightings to "swamp gas."

The UFO that was downed Sunday over Michigan was one of three — the magic number to take an incident to a conspiracy — that U.S. fighter jets took out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The other two were over Alaska and Canada, and it set off not only speculation about what the objects were but why the government is blowing them out of the sky.

The Department of Defense's statement Sunday said the object's "path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation," and where it was shot down offered the least "impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery."

The Pentagon went on to say that based on its flight path and data "we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites," and the military "did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat."

Not a kinetic military threat, for civilians, means that it wasn't a weapon.

The government claimed it was "a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities."

Kirby drew a contrast Monday between the balloon shot down over the Atlantic — which was at a much higher altitude, had a payload as big as three school buses, was known to be part of a surveillance program — and the three other objects, which were much smaller, but riding prevailing winds.

He said there are lots of aircraft for countries, companies, research purposes "that are not nefarious at all."

The government, Kirby added, does not know who owns the three other objects that were shot down. But, he said, because the objects were at a lower altitude, they posed a possible risk to aircraft and were downed "out of an abundance of caution."

The case for secrets

In a news conference Monday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin seemed to deflect questions asking whether the three objects that were downed were connected to China.

Instead, the ministry spokesperson reiterated that the entry of the "Chinese civilian unmanned airship" into American airspace was "purely unintended, unexpected and an isolated event," and shooting it down was a "trigger-happy overreaction."

Seeger, an expert in crisis communication, said it's possible, though, that the explanation is much simpler.

The government just might really not know yet what UFOs are, and unmanned objects were in the atmosphere and the military shot them down as a precaution, a change in standing orders, since the high-flying balloon connected to China that was spotted last month.

In addition to Slotkin, U.S. Rep Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, confirmed military aircraft downed the object.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a former Navy officer, tweeted that he was "glad the object was neutralized" over Lake Huron and will continue pressing the defense department "for transparency."

And Monday, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton — who said "we must continue to defend our airspace and investigate these incidents" — began wondering whether there might be a connection between the object being shot down, even though we don't know it's Chinese in origin, is related to Ford's plans to build a massive electric vehicle factory with a Chinese partner in Marshall.

Richard Stamps, Oakland University professor emeritus of anthropology, said he believes that it's more likely that the object was some kind of spycraft than an alien spaceship.

"When unknowns come up, we as human beings try to understand it and that's where a lot of conspiracy theories come from," Stamps said Monday. "They are attempts to describe the unknown, and many times they are attempts within adequate data."

He urged patience and caution before drawing conclusions. Time, and science, will likely tell what the objects were.

But in some cases, the government has to keep secrets to protect us.

"Is it important to say something?" he added. "When the time is right, say it. When the time is not ready, I'd say go ahead and keep a few secrets. Keep a few secrets from the citizens and keep a few secrets from the news media. There's a time to talk, and a time not to talk."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

Objects shot down

Sunday: The object was flying at 20,000 feet over Michigan. Air Force’s Northern Command Gen. Glen VanHerck said, when asked about whether it might be extraterrestrial during a news conference, said he hadn't "ruled out anything."

Saturday: A UFO that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said violated its airspace.

Friday: A UFO over Alaska. It reportedly was the size of a car.

Feb. 4: Chinese spy balloon downed over the Atlantic Ocean. It reportedly came into the United States over Alaska in January, and then floated across the country over Idaho and then to the Carolinas. One theory: it was designed to surveil military bases.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rumors, theories spread about UFO shot down over Lake Huron