Britain to launch security review after mysterious flying objects appear over US

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The UK has announced plans to launch a security review on unidentified objects flying in Western airspace after the US and Canada recently shot down a series of such objects at high altitude.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will work with the US and other allies to assess the potential danger caused by the surveillance devices, local media reported on Sunday.

"The UK and her allies will review what these airspace intrusions mean for our security. This development is another sign of how the global threat picture is changing for the worse," Wallace said, according to Sky News.

This was followed Monday with Transport Minister Richard Holden saying that "Chinese spy balloons" may have passed over the UK.

"It is possible. It is also possible, and I would think likely, that there would be people from the Chinese government trying to act as a hostile state," Holden said, also according to Sky News.

A fighter jet shot down a suspected balloon on Feb. 4 off the coast of the state of South Carolina.

China has downplayed the incident, saying the balloon was used for "research, mainly meteorological, purposes" and had blown off course.