US shoots down third unauthorised high-altitude object in seven days, Justin Trudeau confirms
12 February 2023, 08:18 | Updated: 12 February 2023, 08:25
An American warplane shot down an unidentified object that was flying high over northern Canada yesterday evening, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed.
It comes a day after US planes took similar action over Alaska and it is the third high-altitude object to be shot down by the US in seven days.
On Twitter, Mr Trudeau said: "I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon.
"Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled, and a US F-22 successfully fired at the object."
In a second tweet, Mr Trudeau said: "I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object. Thank you to Norad for keeping the watch over North America."
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A suspected Chinese spy balloon had been flying through Canadian and American airspace when it was shot down by a US war plane last Sunday.
On Friday, the US shot down a second object in Alaskan airspace, though it is unclear at this stage what the object was.
The object was flying at about 40,000ft on Friday and posed a "reasonable threat" to the safety of civilian flights, said John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman.
According to US Northern Command, recovery operations continued on Saturday both near Deadhorse, Alaska, and off South Carolina.
In a statement, the Northern Command said there were no new details on what the object was that a US fighter jet shot down over Alaska.
"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," the statement said.
"Recovery activities are occurring on sea ice."
