Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Newsmax that he learned one thing from Tuesday's Pentagon briefing regarding high-altitude objects flying over North America: There are gaps in the United States' ability to monitor its own airspace.
Even though the House isn't in session this week, Mast told "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" that members were briefed, via audio, "by people in the Pentagon at varying levels."
The briefing reportedly did not cover classified information.
Mast, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said he had a number of questions after the briefing.
One thing "I would want answered would be this: What was the intelligence [federal officials] gleaned from whatever they observed?" Mast asked. "I could certainly say one thing that they gleaned from it would be that the U.S. has gaps.
"We have spent a lot of time looking for [intercontinental ballistic missiles] and looking at commercial air traffic," Mast continued. "And if it wasn't meeting those parameters of altitude and speed, then those other items might have been filtered out from being looked at."
Congressional lawmakers have expressed frustration with the Biden administration not being transparent about recently shooting down flying objects over Alaska, Canadian airspace, and Lake Huron in Michigan.
Senators were also briefed Tuesday by Pentagon officials, and although the meeting was deemed classified, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reportedly said "99% of what was discussed in that room today can be made public without compromising security in this country."
Mast was asked what percentage of the House briefing could be released to the public.
"All of them can pose a national security threat," Mast said. "We haven't been given information that these things were weaponized, or that they were looking to answer specific questions through reconnaissance.
"Is it off? Absolutely," Mast continued. "Should we be worried about the gaps that we now see exist? Absolutely, but I can't sit there and answer that other question in a percentage. I would just be giving you an answer that has no basis in reality for me."
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