The mysterious flying object over northern Canada has been 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,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter.
Shortly before, the North American Air Defense Command reported to Norad that after a flying object was shot down over Alaska on Friday, another had been discovered at high altitude over northern Canada.
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.
The US government justified the shooting down of the flying object over the state of Alaska on Friday by saying that civilian air traffic was endangered.
However, it was initially unclear where the flying object had come from and what purpose it served. The incident was reminiscent of the Chinese balloon allegedly used for espionage purposes that the US Air Force had brought down from the sky a week ago.
The object over Alaska was about the size of a small car, much smaller than the Chinese balloon, according to the US government. According to the first findings, the object should not have been manoeuvrable itself.
USA: So far no information on the origin of the downed “flying object”
The US military has not yet released any information about the origin or mission of last Friday’s flying object. “Currently, we have no further details about the object, including its capabilities, purpose or origin,” Northern Command said on Saturday afternoon (local time).
The salvage work continued, but would be made difficult by the “arctic weather conditions”. These included freezing wind, snow and limited daylight. The salvage of the debris takes place on the sea ice. (dpa)
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