Just a day after shooting down an unidentified object in US airspace, President Trudeau also had a mysterious flying object shot down over Canada.
Update from February 11, 11:35 p.m.:
Just over a day after a mysterious flying object was shot down over the USA, a second object was brought down from the sky in Canada.
The flying object over northern Canada was shot down by a US fighter jet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday.
"I have ordered the downing of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace," he wrote on Twitter.
Shortly before, the North American Air Defense Command Norad had announced that after a flying object was shot down over Alaska on Friday, another had been discovered at high altitude over northern Canada.
Unidentified flying object over Canada: President Trudeau orders Yukon shot down
Trudeau went on to say that Canadian and American fighter jets were involved in the downing over the Yukon Territory in the north-west of the country.
An American F-22 aircraft then fired at the object.
"Canadian forces will now recover and analyze the debris from the object." Trudeau said he also spoke to US President Joe Biden on the matter.
However, it was initially unclear where the flying object had come from and what purpose it served.
It was only on Friday that the US military shot down a suspected similar aircraft over Alaska.
The US government justified the action by saying that civilian air traffic was endangered.
The object over Alaska was said to be about the size of a small car, much smaller than the Chinese balloon.
According to the first findings, the object should not have been manoeuvrable itself.
Canada shoots down an unidentified flying object in its own airspace just one day after the USA
As of Saturday, the US military had no information about his origin.
"Currently, we have no further details about the object, including its capabilities, purpose or origin," said the Northern Command (Northcom) command staff.
The salvage work continued, but would be made more difficult by the "arctic weather conditions".
These included freezing winds, snow and limited daylight.
The salvage of the debris takes place on the sea ice.
The flying object over Alaska was first sighted on Thursday evening (local time), said the communications director of the National Security Council, John Kirby.
US President Joe Biden was informed immediately and gave the firing order on Friday morning.
US fighter jets had previously approached the object.
The pilots would have ensured that the flying object was unmanned.
CNN
, citing a US government official, reported that the object appeared to have had no surveillance equipment.
After the spy balloon affair between China and the USA: shooting down of an unidentified flying object over Alaska
It was shot down off the Alaskan coast near the Canadian border - not far from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government in Ottawa was also aware of the project.
According to the military, the shooting down posed no major risk to people or buildings on the ground.
The incident was reminiscent of the Chinese balloon allegedly used for espionage purposes, which the US Air Force had brought down from the sky a week ago.
According to military information, this had flown significantly higher at around 18 kilometers than the object over Alaska, which was traveling at an altitude of 12 to 13 kilometers.
Spy balloon: USA accuses China of spying on military facilities
The US military let the Chinese balloon hover over the American mainland for several days and then shot it down over the Atlantic off the coast of the state of South Carolina.
The United States accuses China's government of using it to spy on military facilities.
Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course - and described the launch as an "overreaction".
The incident caused additional tension in the already strained relationship between the two countries.
Unidentified flying objects are not uncommon.
In 2020, the US Department of Defense set up a task force to analyze "unexplained phenomena in the air that could potentially pose a threat to US national security."
Since then, the group has published reports on "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (UAP) at irregular intervals - most recently a few weeks ago.
It emerged that the US military has no explanation for numerous observations of unidentified flying objects.
Other sightings, however, were classified as "unremarkable" - they could be traced back to common objects in the air - such as drones, balloons and debris such as plastic bags, the report said.
Reports of inexplicable celestial phenomena have increased.
However, the Pentagon had made it clear that no evidence of extraterrestrial life had been found.
After spy balloon: mysterious flying object sighted over Canada - military jets rise
Update from February 11, 10:59 p.m .:
Another mysterious flying object has been discovered over northern Canada.
This was announced by the North American Air Defense Command Norad of the German Press Agency on Saturday on request.
The US military shot down a flying object over the state of Alaska on Friday.
The object flies at a high altitude - but it was not announced exactly which part of the country it is located over.
"Military aircraft are currently operating out of Alaska and Canada in support of the activities of the North American Aerospace Defense Command," it said.
Norad initially did not confirm a media report that a second object might also be sought.
After spy balloon: Another flying object shot down over the USA – Biden celebrates the mission as a “success”
Update from February 11, 8.40 a.m .:
After the American military shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, US President Joe Biden said with a short “It was a success” to the US broadcaster CNN.
He had personally ordered the shooting down.
An anonymous US official stated that after the discovery of the flying object, F-35 fighter jets were initially sent to investigate.
An F-22 fighter jet with an AIM-9X missile later shot down the object, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said.
WASHINGTON
, DC - The US military shot down an unidentified object over the state of Alaska on Friday on orders from US President Joe Biden, US officials said.
National Security Council communications director John Kirby confirmed the downing at a news conference in Washington.
After China's spy balloon: Biden's orders shot down an unidentified object over Alaska 'out of sheer caution'
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National Security Council communications director John Kirby announced Friday the shooting down of an "unidentified object" over Alaska.
© IMAGO/Shawn Thew - Pool via CNP / Zuma Wire
Biden ordered the unidentified object shot down "out of pure caution," Kirby said.
He said it has not been confirmed whether the object was a balloon, but that it was traveling at an altitude that made it a potential hazard to civilian aircraft.
The communications director emphasized that he could not yet say anything about the origin of the flying object.
Apparently, the object was traveling at an altitude of around 12,000 meters and was about the size of a car.
The object had flown over land in Alaska before fighter jets crashed it over the Arctic Ocean near the northeastern border of Alaska and Canada, the
New York Times
reported.
The pilots had previously confirmed that the object was unmanned, it said.
After the balloon affair with China: Unknown flying object poses a threat to aviation
Last Saturday, the US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over American territory off the coast of the state of South Carolina across the Atlantic.
The US government accuses China of wanting to spy on military installations.
Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course and of an "overreaction" by the USA.
Referring to Friday's recent incident, Michael P. Mulroy, a former Pentagon official, told the
New York Times
: "If it was another Chinese spy balloon, it suggests that China is either incompetent [... ] is or may be deliberately provoking the US," Mulroy said, adding, "It is also important that the US and China maintain direct communication at times like these.
Especially between the armed forces.”
