Air Force fighter jets were scrambled and the White House was briefly evacuated on Thursday after birds or possibly disturbances in the atmosphere tripped radar that keeps watch on restricted air space around the complex. “It’s a false radar target,” said William Shumann, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. “When the NORAD fighters got to the location of the alleged violation, they found nothing.” The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is the command center for the defense of U.S. and Canadian airspace. Shumann said flocks of birds or atmospheric disturbances might have caused the false radar reading, which was initially thought to be a plane flying within five miles of restricted airspace around the White House. Full Story