- The unexplained object has been shot down over North American airspace.
- Both Canadian and US aircraft were dispatched to locate the item.
- It is the third object shot down in the previous week.
Another unexplained object has been shot down over North American airspace, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He said the latest object “violated Canadian airspace” and was shot down over Yukon in northwest Canada.
Both Canadian and US aircraft were dispatched to locate the item, which Mr. Trudeau claims was shot down by a US F-22 fighter plane.
It is the third object shot down in the previous week over North America.
Last weekend, the US military destroyed a Chinese balloon, and on Friday, an unnamed object the size of a small vehicle was shot down off the coast of Alaska.
Mr. Trudeau said on Saturday that he issued the order and spoke with US Vice President Joe Biden.
“Canadian forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object,” he wrote on Twitter.
The latest unidentified object was intercepted at 15:41 local time on Saturday while flying over central Yukon at roughly 40,000 feet (12,000 meters).
“Canadian military will immediately recover and analyze the debris of the object,” he posted on Twitter.
The latest unidentified object was intercepted at 15:41 local time on Saturday while flying over central Yukon at roughly 40,000 feet (12,000 meters).
small and cylindrical
She described it as “small” and “cylindrical,” but recovery operations are still ongoing to learn more.
Ms. Anand said it was taken out “about 100 miles” from the US border, adding it posed a “reasonable threat to civil aviation”.
She said it “appears to be smaller than the one shot down off the coast of South Carolina” last Saturday – meaning the giant Chinese suspected spy balloon that measured 200ft (60m) tall.
Earlier on Twitter, Prime Minister Trudeau praised the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for air defense in the United States and Canada and led the mission.
The White House said the object had been tracked and monitored “over the last 24 hours”.
“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorised it to be taken down,” it said.
“The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin.”
The US Department of Defense acknowledged that two F-22 fighter jets took off from a military base near Anchorage, Alaska and that the object was shot down using an AIM 9X missile.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder added that the FBI will be “working closely” with Canadian police.
Separately, the US military scrambled fighter fighters over Montana on Saturday when some airspace was closed, but it proved to be a “radar anomaly” and nothing odd was discovered.
Chinese spy balloon
The latest device to appear above North America comes barely a week after the US destroyed a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
On Friday another unspecified object was tracked and shot down over Alaska at the orders of US President Biden.
The military stated in a brief statement that US personnel, including members of the Alaska National Guard, were still searching for the object on the sea ice on Friday.
It provided no other information on the object’s capabilities, purpose, or provenance, but acknowledged that the FBI is assisting with the recovery near the Alaskan hamlet of Deadhorse.
“Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety,” it added – and that the rescue operation will continue as weather permits.
Last weekend, defense officials told US media that wreckage from the Chinese balloon landed in 47ft (14m) of water near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which was shallower than predicted.
China has denied that the balloon, which initially entered US airspace on January 28th, was used for surveillance, claiming it was a weather instrument gone awry.
The United States, on the other hand, stated that the balloon is part of a fleet of surveillance balloons that have flown across five continents.
The balloon incident has strained relations between the United States and China, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing.
Chinese officials on Friday accused the US of “political manipulation and hype”.
In an interview on Thursday, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese balloon, maintaining that it was not “a major breach”.
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