A day after the United States took a similar action over Alaska, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed on Saturday that a U.S. fighter jet flew over Canada’s Yukon Territory and shot down a “unidentified object” on his command.
The object was spotted flying at a high altitude over Alaska on Friday evening, according to U.S. sources. North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint U.S.-Canada entity that conducts shared airspace defence over the two countries.
According to a statement from the Pentagon Press Secretary, Brigadier General Pet Ryder, two F-22 planes from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska tracked the item closely and took the time to describe the nature of the object while it was above American airspace.
This thing entered Canadian airspace on Saturday.
According to Ryder’s statement, the U.S. and Canada kept monitoring the object in Canadian airspace, with Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joining the formation to further analyse the object.
Joe Biden, who also gave the order for the object to be shot down, and Justin Trudeau talked. The item was brought down by a U.S. plane with an AIM 9X missile after Canadian and American jets operating as part of NORAD were scrambled.
The Federal Aviation Administration shut down some airspace over Montana later on Saturday night in the United States.
For a number of hours on Saturday night, the FAA confirmed to VOA News that airspace over Montana was blocked to civilian aircraft for “Department of Defense activity.” Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana stated that an item had been seen and that “the DOD will begin efforts to observe and ground the object in the morning.”
Later, according to an FAA spokesman, the airspace was reopened.
The United States’ F-22 fighter jets have already shot down three objects in the sky above the United States and Canada in the past seven days, an astonishing occurrence that has people wondering what is floating overhead and who is sending it.
At least one of the downed objects was thought to be a Chinese spy balloon, but the identities of the other two have not yet been made public. Despite Trudeau’s Saturday claim that the item was “unidentified,” Major Olivier Gallant, a spokesman for NORAD, claimed that the military had identified the object but would withhold further information.
According to Trudeau, Canadian military would recover the wreckage for analysis. The Yukon is both Canada’s westernmost territory and one of its least inhabited regions.
A little over a day ago, John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, claimed that a small-car-sized object had been shot out of the sky over remote Alaska. Its origin, intended use, and presence of any surveillance devices were all unknown to officials.
According to Kirby, it was shot down because it was flying at a height of roughly 13,000 metres and posed a “reasonable threat” to the security of commercial air travel, not because anyone knew it was conducting surveillance.
Recovery efforts on sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska, continued on Saturday, according to U.S. Northern Command.
The Northern Command stated that it has no new information regarding the nature of the object. According to the report, search and recovery efforts were being carried out by the FBI, the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Command, and the Alaska Command.
In order to preserve safety, recovery activities will be adjusted due to arctic weather conditions, which include wind chill, snow, and limited daylight.
A huge white balloon was shot down on February 4 by American authorities off the coast of South Carolina.
The balloon, according to the Pentagon, was a component of a significant surveillance programme that China has been carrying out for “a number of years.” According to the U.S., Chinese balloons have recently flown over dozens of nations on five continents, and after closely watching the balloon that was shot down near South Carolina, further information was discovered about the balloon operation.
China retaliated by stating that it reserved the right to “take additional actions” and denounced the United States for having “an evident overreaction and a severe violation of international practise.”
Off the coast of South Carolina, the Navy resumed its survey and recovery operations while the U.S. Coast Guard was in charge of maintaining security. Friday saw the removal of more debris, and as long as the weather allows, more operations will be carried out, according to Northern Command.
