WASHINGTON (AP) — The three still-unidentified aerial objects shot down by the U.S. in the past week likely had merely a "benign purpose," the White House acknowledged Tuesday, drawing a distinction between them and the massive Chinese balloon that earlier traversed the U.S. with a suspected goal of surveillance.

"The intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose," said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

Officials also disclosed that a missile fired at one of the three objects, over La...