I had a work-study job in college at our small local airport working for the FAA. I mostly clipped new FAA communications into 3-ring binders and tore off expired ticker tape weather reports for a couple of hours a day.
My boss was old school government employee, straight and square. One day we were talking and he handed me a FAA business card with a UFO reporting 800 phone number. Odd I thought, and put it in my wallet.
Years later I lost my wallet in a phone booth (am old). I got a call from someone who found my wallet and wanted to return it. He came over with the wallet which had everything still in it, including cash. The only thing missing was the UFO card. I've never seen another one.
I would say that its just spy balloons, some orbital debris, and maybe a bit of sensor malfuntions. Once the first ballon got noticed everyone started looking closer at the skies and saw objects that they previously disregarded.
Or just actual aliens that came in peace and wanted to say hi and got greeted by a f22.
My bet is that whatever it is, the government knows exactly what those balloon thingies are, since they have the debris and i dont think the departments of intelligence would have much trouble reverse engineering the device if it was just a chinese spy drone.