Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that an “unidentified object” had been shot down over Canadian airspace on his orders.
“I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Trudeau said on Twitter.
Trudeau said that he spoke with US President Joe Biden on Saturday and that Canadian forces will lead the object recovery operation.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand tweeted Saturday that she had discussed the incident with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “and reaffirmed that we’ll always defend our sovereignty together.”
In the news: US Shoots Down “High-Altitude” Object In American Airspace Off The Coast Of Alaska
The U.S. military shot down a second “high altitude object” in American airspace, this time off the coast of Alaska on Friday, the White House announced.
The mission occurred less than a week after a high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
White House spokesman John Kirby, hesitated to characterize the aircraft as a balloon, saying “we’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have right now.”
In the news: US House Votes To Condemn China Over Spy Balloon
He also said they didn’t yet know which nation or group was responsible for it.
The object was destroyed by a missile from an F-22 fighter plane “off the very, very northeastern part of Alaska, near the Alaska-Canada border,” said Kirby, speaking at a White House press briefing.
Kirby said the U.S. military first became aware of the object on Thursday night. On Friday morning, President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot it down, which was carried out shortly after noon.
The craft was flying at approximately 40,000 feet in altitude, which is lower than the balloon last week, and it was the size of a small car, he said.
In the news: VIDEO: The Moment An F-22 Raptor ‘Takes Down’ The Chinese Spy Balloon Over South Carolina
Unlike the balloon shot down on Saturday, the latest object did not appear to possess any maneuverability, Kirby said.
Last week’s spy balloon was the size of three school buses, according to Pentagon officials. A sophisticated surveillance craft with propellers that gave it maneuverability, the balloon carried a payload the size of a jetliner, Pentagon officials have said.
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