In a coordinated effort by the North American neighbors, a US fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada.
After a week-long saga over a rumored Chinese spy balloon, North America appeared to be on high alert. The shootdown on Saturday was the second such move in as many days.
The shootdown was initially reported by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who also promised that his country's soldiers will recover and examine the aircraft's wreckage.
Anita Anand, the minister of defence for Canada, refrained from making any assumptions about the origin of the small, cylinder-shaped object. She refrained from using the word "balloon," but noted that it was smaller than the Chinese balloon that had been shot down off the coast of South Carolina a week earlier and otherwise similar.
When it was shot down at 3:41 EST, she said it was flying at 12,100 meters (40,000 feet) and constituted a threat to civilian aviation traffic (20:41 GMT).
Anand stated during a news conference that "there is no reason to believe that the impact of the item on Canadian territory is of any public concern."The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), according to the Pentagon, discovered the object late on Friday night above Alaska. As the object entered Canadian airspace, Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation. US fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, kept an eye on the item.
According to a statement from the Pentagon's Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, "A US F-22 shot down the item in Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile after close coordination between US and Canadian officials."
Following a phone chat between Biden and Trudeau, US President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead for the US military to collaborate with Canada to shoot down the high-altitude craft, according to the Pentagon. According to the White House, Biden and Trudeau decided to keep working closely together to "protect our airspace".
The White House released a statement in which it stated that "the leaders emphasized the necessity of recovering the object in order to determine more specifics on its purpose or origin."
Following the downing of the item at 3:41 PM (2041 GMT), aviation officials also temporarily closed down a portion of the airspace over Montana in the northwest of the United States after spotting a "radar abnormality," according to the US Northern Command.
US fighter jets took to the sky, but Northern Command claimed they "could not identify any object to link to the radar hits" in an indication of unease over potential incursions. Then, commercial aviation was permitted to resume in the skies.
Chinese spy blimp suspected
The previous day, Biden gave the order to take down another unidentified flying object close to Deadhorse, Alaska. On Saturday, the US military remained mum over what, if anything, it had discovered while rescue activities were underway on the Alaskan sea ice.
Only a few facts were provided by the Pentagon on Friday, including the size of the object, its altitude of around 12,100 meters, the fact that it was immobile and seemed to be unmanned. Since the object was originally sighted on Thursday, US authorities have been attempting to learn more about it.
The capabilities, purpose, or provenance of the object are unknown at this time, according to Northern Command's statement on Saturday.
It made note of the challenging cold weather, which could make it harder to conduct search and rescue operations.
Personnel will modify recovery efforts to protect safety, according to Northern Command.
Following a week-long voyage across the US and some of Canada, a US F-22 fighter jet downed what the US government said a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. According to the Chinese government, it was a civilian research vessel.
Biden received criticism from several US lawmakers for not bringing down the Chinese balloon sooner. Out of concern for injuries from falling debris, the US military had advised waiting until it was over the ocean.
Since the shootdown of the 60-meter-high (200-foot-tall) Chinese suspected surveillance balloon, US soldiers have been scouring the seas to gather debris and the undercarriage of electronic equipment.
According to the Pentagon, a sizable portion of the balloon has already been found or recovered, which suggests US authorities may soon have additional knowledge about any Chinese spying equipment on board the ship.
On February 10, "dive and underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) actions and the removal of additional debris from the sea floor were permitted by sea conditions," according to Northern Command.
"As US Navy vessels undertake offloading and resupply operations, the public may observe them traveling to and from the site."
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