‘Unidentified object’ shot down over Canada

A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Canada, the second such incident in North American skies since the dramatic downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon a week ago.

The moment a US fighter jet shot down the Chinese spy balloon last weekend. Picture: Angela Mosley

A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Canada, the second such incident in North American skies since the dramatic downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon a week ago.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday night (Sunday AEDT) that a joint US-Canadian military operation led to the takedown of the object, the latest in a series of mysterious air intrusions.

“Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled, and a US F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Mr Trudeau tweeted Saturday.

Shortly after the 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 “radar anomaly,” the US Northern Command said.

In a sign of jitters over possible intrusions, Northern Command said US fighter jets took to the skies but “did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits”. Skies were then reopened to commercial air traffic.

I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 11, 2023

The object shot down in the Yukon was “small, cylindrical” in shape, said Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand.

“The 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,” Ms Anand told reporters.

Mr Trudeau said Canadian forces in the Yukon “will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object.”

He said he spoke with US President Joe Biden over the latest incursion. The object was shot down over the Yukon, which borders Alaska, where US fighter jets off the state’s north coast downed another object on Friday.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was unclear what the purpose or origin of the object over Alaska was, but said that it was taken down because, floating at 12,000m, it was a threat to civil aviation.

“The President ordered the military to down the object,” Mr Kirby said.

Questioned about the incident by reporters at the White House, Mr Biden said the shoot-down “was a success”.

Mr Kirby said the object was much smaller than a huge Chinese balloon that crossed the US last week and was shot down by a US fighter jet off the Atlantic coast on February 4.

It was “roughly the size of a small car”, he said.

“We do not know who owns it, whether state owned or corporate owned,” he said. “We don’t understand the full purpose.”

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said an F-22 Raptor used an AIM-9X missile to bring down the object on Friday – the same aircraft and munition used to target the alleged Chinese spy balloon.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder at a briefing at the Pentagon at the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

The incident took place amid a new alarm over what US officials say is an ongoing program by China to fly surveillance balloons to collect intelligence around the world.

US officials said such balloons have flown over 40 countries, including at least four times previously over US territory.

The Chinese balloon sparked particular concern as it overflew areas where the US keeps nuclear missiles in underground silos and bases strategic bombers.

Mr Kirby said the new object was detected late Thursday, and shot down on Friday afternoon Washington time.

It went down in northern Alaska near the Canadian border and fell over a frozen body of water, making recovery feasible, hey said.

“We do expect to be able to recover the debris,” he said.

Mr Biden ordered the shoot-down because at the altitude it was flying, Mr Kirby said, the object posed “a reasonable threat” to civil aviation.

Mr Kirby said the US military sent a plane to observe the object before it was taken down and “the pilot’s assessment was that this was not manned.” The Chinese surveillance balloon had clear abilities to propel and manoeuvre itself, he noted.

Despite the recent incursions by balloons and other unidentified objects over the US and Canada, Australia’s Defence Department said it had not detected such objects in the nation’s airspace.

“Defence is unaware of a balloon or similar objects over Australia, however we continue to monitor such issues closely,” a spokeswoman said.

AFP