Slow moving object that caused White House lock down was a flock of birds

A slow moving object was spotted on the White House radar forcing a lock down and restricted access on Tuesday.

The Capital Police command center said the object was flying south of the restricted National Mall, which forced security officials to sound the alarm.

The object was thought to be a blob, a Binary Large Object used for storing information in database management systems (DBMS) which may be in form of images, videos and sound.

According to CNN, the airspace around Washington is more restricted than anywhere else in United States due to rules set after the September 2001 attacks on New York City.

The new rules established a national defense airspace over the area and limits aircraft operations in the airspace to those with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration authorization.

Reports indicate that the lockdown could have been caused by the fact that security officials thought it was a drone, which prompted US Coast Guard helicopters to arrive and intercept although no threat was found.

Speaking to CNN, Capitol Police sources said there was high possibility that the flying object may have just been a flock of birds considering how slowly it was moving and how it appeared.

It then then dissipated with officers on military jets and helicopters reporting that they saw nothing in the sky.

Moreover, CNN reviewed an air traffic control audio and confirmed that the responding military aircraft operated by a pilot going by the call sign ‘Blackjack’ did report seeing a flock of birds while in the air, which were going northwest.

Further reports say that when the object was first identified, the US Capitol went to ‘Aircon yellow’, which is an alert status triggered when an aircraft enters the restricted airspace in Washington without authorization.