A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Canada on Saturday, the second such incident in North American skies since the dramatic downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon a week ago.
\nPrime Minister Justin Trudeau said a joint US-Canadian military operation led to the takedown of the object, the latest in a series of mysterious air intrusions.
\n\u201cCanadian and US aircraft were scrambled, and a US F-22 successfully fired at the object,\u201d Trudeau tweeted Saturday.
\nShortly after the 3:41 pm (2041 GMT) downing of the object, aviation authorities shut down part of the airspace over the northwest US state of Montana after detecting what they called a \u201cradar anomaly,\u201d the US Northern Command said.
\nIn a sign of jitters over possible intrusions, Northern Command said US fighter jets took to the skies but \u201cdid not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits.\u201d Skies were then reopened to commercial air traffic.
\nThe object shot down in the Yukon was \u201csmall, cylindrical\u201d in shape, said Canada\u2019s defense minister, Anita Anand.
\n\u201cThe object was flying at an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet, had unlawfully entered Canadian airspace, and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,\u201d Anand told reporters.
\nTrudeau said Canadian forces in the Yukon \u201cwill now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object.\u201d
\nHe said he spoke with US President Joe Biden over the latest incursion, while Anand also said she spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
\nThe new incursions into Alaska and the Yukon came after the United States said Wednesday that suspected Chinese spy balloons like the one it shot down February 4 were part of a \u201cfleet\u201d that has spanned five continents.
\nNATO also voiced concern.
\nAnand, however, said, \u201cit would not be prudent for me to speculate on the origins of the object at this time.\u201d
\nUS and Canadian planes flew together to take on the object Saturday, the US Department of Defense and Anand said.
\n\u201cPresident Biden authorized US fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD to work with Canada to take down a high-altitude airborne object over northern Canada today,\u201d Pentagon Spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement, referring to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
\nAn F-22 fighter jet fired an AIM 9X missile that brought it down, he said. The White House said Biden and Trudeau spoke Saturday, and \u201ccommended NORAD\u2019s and US Northern Command\u2019s strong and effective partnership and agreed to continue their close coordination to detect, track, and defend our airspace.\u201d
\nThe object taken out over the Yukon, which borders Alaska, came after fighter jets downed another object Friday off the US state\u2019s north coast near the village of Deadhorse.
\nSearch and recovery operations for the remains of that object continued Saturday but were hindered by Arctic \u201cwind chill, snow, and limited daylight,\u201d Northern Command said in a statement.
\n\u201cRecovery activities are occurring on sea ice,\u201d it said, adding that the Pentagon could offer \u201cno further details\u2026 about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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