First findings of the Canadian government: Downed flying object had a cylindrical shape

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A US F-22 fighter jet shot down the aircraft over northern Canada

Photo: US AIR FORCE/ REUTERS

According to the Canadian government, the aircraft shot down over northern Canada had a "cylindrical shape".

It was at an altitude of twelve kilometers, said Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand in a press conference on Saturday evening.

According to initial findings, it was therefore smaller than the suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been brought down from the sky by the US Air Force off the coast of North Carolina a week ago.

The object, flying at an altitude of a good 12,000 meters, illegally entered Canadian airspace and posed a threat to the safety of civil aviation.

Canadian soldiers are now "to salvage and examine the debris from the object," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

He spoke to US President Joe Biden before the US Air Force F-22 fighter jet used it to shoot down the object.

At the same time, Defense Secretary Anand said she was in consultation with her US counterpart Lloyd Austin.

Both affirmed "that we will always defend our sovereignty together," she wrote on Twitter.

The US military shot down a flying object off the coast of the US state of Alaska on Friday.

The operation to salvage the remains of this object continued on Saturday.

The operation, which takes place on sea ice, was hampered by the cold, snow and darkness in the northernmost US state, according to the US Forces Northern Command.

The Pentagon has not been able to provide any details about the object, "including its capabilities, purpose, or origin."

Mission unclear - as with the downed balloon

In both cases it was initially unclear what the origin and missions of the objects were.

Both were dropped from the sky at a similar altitude.

The incidents are reminiscent of the launch of the Chinese balloon last week.

His day-long flight over the United States had led to a scandal between Washington and Beijing.

A US fighter jet finally shot down the balloon on Saturday last week on the US east coast over the Atlantic when it was no longer over the mainland.

In this case, too, the salvage and investigation of the debris continues.

The United States hopes to gain further insights into the Chinese approach.

Washington said on Wednesday that the downed balloon was one of a fleet of spy balloons that flew across five continents.

After the discovery of the balloon, China had denied the allegation of espionage.

Instead, Beijing spoke of a civil balloon for meteorological purposes that had gone off course.

US officials have meanwhile firmly rejected this account several times and affirmed that it was a question of a spy balloon.

Airspace temporarily closed over Montana

A few hours after the aircraft was shot down over Canada, the airspace over the US state of Montana south of the border was briefly closed.

The FAA said this was done to "support Department of Defense activities."

The airspace is now open again.

Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale tweeted that the airspace was closed because of an "object that could affect commercial air travel."

However, the US military gave the all-clear a little later.

After a "radar anomaly," a fighter plane was dispatched, the North American Air Defense Command and the US Northern Command said.

However, the aircraft did not identify an “object” that matched the radar data.

oka / AFP / dpa