- Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC News
image source, Getty Images
Canada said that an F-22 of the Armed Forces. Americans like this one – seen in a file photograph – shot down the object.
Another unidentified aerial device. This time over Canada.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that another unidentified object had been shot down over North American airspace.
Trudeau explained that it “had violated Canadian airspace” and had been shot down over Yukonin northwestern Canada.
Both Canadian and American planes scrambled to track down the object that Trudeau said was shocked by an American F-22.
Trudeau says he gave the order and discussed it with his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
“Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the remains of the object,” he wrote on Twitter.
A joint task
The Canadian prime minister also thanked the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which earlier said it had been monitoring “a high-altitude airborne object” flying over northern Canada. NORAD conducts air defense for the US and Canada.
The White House said the object had been tracked and monitored “for the past 24 hours.”
“Out of an abundance of caution and on the recommendation of their military, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorized its dismantlement,” he said in a statement.
“Leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object to determine more details about its purpose or origin.”
The US Department of Defense, for its part, confirmed that two F-22 aircraft took off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, and the object was shot down with an AIM 9X missile.
Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that while recovery operations will be carried out by Canadian authorities, the FBI will “work closely” with Canadian police.
It is not clear what the object is, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schummer said Sunday that it is believed to be It was another balloon, although he did not specify if it was from China.
Its appearance over North America comes just days after two balloons the US linked to Beijing were also shot down.
Two more balloons in the last month
On Friday another object was shot down over Alaska by order of US President Biden.
In a brief statement, the Army said US troops, including the Alaska National Guard, were still conducting search and recovery activities for Friday’s object in the sea ice.
He said he had no further details about the object’s capabilities, purpose or origin, but confirmed that the FBI is assisting with the recovery near the Alaskan town of Deadhorse.
“Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety,” it added, and the rescue operation will continue as long as weather permitting.
The latest incident comes a week after the US military destroyed a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
China has denied that the balloon, which first entered US airspace on January 28, was used for espionage purposes, saying it was a lost weather device.
However, the United States said that the globe it is part of a fleet of surveillance balloons that has flown over five continents.
The balloon incident has strained relations between the United States and China, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceling a planned trip to Beijing.
Chinese officials on Friday accused the United States of “political manipulation and exaggeration.”
In an interview Thursday, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese globe, saying it was not “a major breach.”
image source, Getty Images
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