NORAD Spots High-Altitude Object over Canada
Another unidentified object has been shot down over Canada, PM Justin Trudeau has confirmed.
The Canadian prime minister said the latest object “violated Canadian airspace” and was shot down over Yukon in north west Canada.
Both Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled to track down the object which PM Trudeau says was taken out by a US F-22.
He says he gave the order and he spoke with President Joe Biden.
“Canadian forces will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object,” he wrote on Twitter.
He thanked the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) which earlier said it had been monitoring “a high-altitude airborne object” over northern Canada. NORAD carries out air defence for the US and Canada.
It is not clear what the object is.
But, its appearance over North America comes just a week after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down after violating American and Canadian airspace.
On February 10, another object was shot down over Alaska at the orders of President Biden.
In a short statement, the military said US troops, including from the Alaska National Guard, were still conducting search and recovery activities on sea ice for the object.
It said it had no further details about the object’s capabilities, purpose or origin but confirmed the FBI is helping with the recovery near the Alaskan town 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.
The latest incident comes a week after the American military destroyed a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
China has denied the balloon – which first entered US airspace on January 28 – was used for spying purposes, saying it was a weather device gone astray.
The US, however, said the balloon is part of a fleet of surveillance balloons that have flown over five continents.
The balloon incident has strained US-China relations, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceling a planned trip to Beijing.
On February 10, Chinese officials accused the US of “political manipulation and hype”.
In an interview on February 9, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese balloon, maintaining that it was not “a major breach”.