New unidentified flying object shot down over Canada

More information has emerged about the latest unidentified object to be shot down over North America.

More details have emerged about the new unidentified flying object that was shot down over North America, heightening the drama in the skies sparked by a Chinese spy balloon a week ago.

The object was “cylindrical” and smaller than the suspected Chinese balloon shot down last weekend, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier revealed on Sunday that he had ordered the object in Canadian airspace be taken down.

The mission was conducted by an American F-22 fighter jet after Mr Trudeau consulted with US President Joe Biden.

“I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” Mr Trudeau tweeted.

“I spoke with President Biden this afternoon,” he added. “Canadian Forces will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says an “unidentified object” was shot down over northwestern Canada. Picture: AFP

Mr Trudeau thanked North American Aerospace Defense Command “for keeping watch over North America”.

The origin and purpose of the object remains unclear, along with a similar unidentified object the size of a small car that was shot down over Alaska the day before.

It comes after American fighter jets shot down an unidentified object over Alaska on Saturday after Mr Biden ordered the strike to prevent it threatening the safety of civilian flights.

The object was shot down by US fighter jets. File picture: AFP

A week after a Chinese spy balloon was downed by the US Air Force, another “high-altitude object” the size of a small car was identified by defence and intelligence agencies.

The White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was not yet clear who owned the object or what it was doing in Alaskan airspace.

“The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” he told reporters in Washington on Saturday (AEDT).

“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did.”

Mr Biden, when asked about the operation, said: “It was a success.”

Kirby says that the military just downed in the last hour an object that was flying at 40k feet over Alaska airspace pic.twitter.com/A1tg8LCuhm

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2023

Mr Kirby said the object was “much, much smaller” than the Chinese military’s spy balloon, which was about 60m tall and the size of three buses.

“We’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have right now,” he said.

“We do not know who owns it – whether it’s state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned, we just don’t know.

“We don’t understand the full purpose. We don’t have any information that would confirm a stated purpose for this object.”

A recovery operation to collect debris from frozen Alaskan waters is now underway in a bid to figure out what the object was and where it had come from.

The Chinese spy balloon that was shot down a week ago. Picture: Angela Mosley

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said it had been travelling in a north-easterly direction before it was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet.

US pilots had been sent to scout the object and see whether it was manned before the strike ordered by Mr Biden.

“We’re going to judge each of these on its merits,” the Pentagon spokesman said.

“No indication at this time that it was manoeuvrable … but we’ll know more.”

“We’re going to recover what we can from this.”

US officials briefed their allies earlier this week that the Chinese balloon was part of a military fleet that had flown over more than 40 countries across five continents.

At least five flights had occurred over US territory in recent years, but they were missed in real time until the latest flight last week that sparked an international incident and saw the balloon taken down off the South Carolina coast.

Originally published as New unidentified flying object shot down over Canada