· A US fighter jet shoots down unidentified, cylindrical objects over Canada.
· Canadian Defence Minister, Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object.
A US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday, the second such shootdown. North America appeared on heightened alert following a week-long Chinese spying balloon saga that drew the global spotlight.
Canadian Defence Minister, Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape. She stopped short of describing it as a balloon but said it was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina’s coast a week ago, but similar in appearance. She said it was flying at 40,000 feet and posed a risk to civilian air traffic.
The Pentagon said the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) detected the object over Alaska late Friday evening. US fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation. “A U.S. F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile following close coordination between U.S. and Canadian authorities,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the U.S. military to work with Canada to take down the high-altitude craft after a call between Biden and Trudeau, the Pentagon said. The White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to “defend our airspace.”
The Pentagon on Friday offered only a few details, including that the object was the size of a small car, it was flying at about 40,000 feet and appeared to be unmanned. U.S. officials have been trying to learn about the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.
