Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that a US fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” flying over the Yukon, on his orders, a day after the US took similar action over Alaska. .
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint U.S.-Canadian organization that shares and defends both countries’ airspace, said it had detected an object flying at high altitude over northern Canada. It wasn’t immediately clear how high it was flying or what it was.
Trudeau said he also spoke with President Joe Biden, who ordered the shooting down of an unidentified object in a remote area of Alaska on Friday.
“Today, President Biden discussed with Prime Minister Trudeau an unidentified unmanned object in North American airspace,” a White House statement said. and the president has been briefed continuously by the national security team since the object was detected.”
Both Biden and Trudeau authorized the object to be shot down “with due diligence and the recommendations of their country’s armed forces,” the statement said.
“Following close coordination between U.S. and Canadian authorities, a U.S. F-22 used an AIM 9X missile to shoot down an object in Canadian territory, prompting Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Defense Minister Anita Including today’s call between Anand, U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder. We will work closely with the Canadian Mounted Police.”
NORAD spokesman Major Olivier Galant said the military had identified what the object was, but would not provide further details.
F-22 fighter jets have now shot down three objects in U.S. and Canadian airspace over seven days, raising questions about exactly what is hovering above and who sent them. .
At least one of the downed objects was believed to be a reconnaissance balloon from China, but the other two have yet to be publicly identified. Trudeau said the Canadian military would retrieve the wreckage for study. The shot down Yukon is Canada’s westernmost territory and one of Canada’s least populated he.
The down came a day after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said an object roughly the size of a small car had been shot down in a remote area of Alaska. Authorities were unable to say if it contained surveillance equipment, where it came from or what it was used for.
Kirby, who was flying at about 40,000 feet (13,000 meters) and was shot down for posing a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flight, was unaware that he was engaged in surveillance.
Restoration work continued on the sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska, Saturday, according to the U.S. Northern Command.
In a statement, Northern Command said it had no new details about what the object was.Alaska Command and the Alaska National Guard, along with the FBI and local law enforcement, are conducting a search and recovery.
“Arctic weather conditions such as wind chill, snow and limited sunlight are factors in this operation, and personnel will coordinate recovery efforts to maintain safety,” the statement said.
Last Saturday, US officials shot down a large white balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
The Pentagon said the balloon was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for “several years.” The US has learned more about the balloon program after Chinese balloons have flown to dozens of countries on five continents in recent years and after closely monitoring his one shot down near South Carolina. said.
China said it reserves the right to “take further action” and accused the United States of “clear overreaction and a grave violation of international practice”.
The Navy continued its search and recovery operations on the seafloor off the coast of South Carolina, with the Coast Guard providing patrol. Additional debris will be pulled out on Friday and operations will continue weather permitting, the Northern Command said.
—CNBC contributed to this report.
