Canada shoots down ‘unidentified object’ in airspace
Canada has shot down an “unidentified object” that violated its airspace.
The armed forces will recover and analyze the wreckage, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The object was shot down by US and Canadian jets.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had ordered a US warplane to shoot down the object, which was “flying high over northern Canada”.
Shortly before Mr. Trudeau’s tweet, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it had spotted an object flying at high altitude over Canada.
He tweeted: “I have ordered the downing of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace.
“@NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and US aircraft were confused and a US F-22 fired successfully at the object.”
The object was the third known to have violated North American airspace in the past two weeks.
In a second tweet, Mr. Trudeau said: “I spoke to President Biden this afternoon. Canadian forces will now recover and analyze the debris from the object. Many thanks to Norad for keeping watch over North America.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.
“Out of great caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to strike the object and they did and it entered our territorial waters and those waters are currently frozen.”
It was “about the size of a small car,” Kirby said.
For comparison, the spy balloon that the US shot down on Saturday was the size of several buses.
The suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down had several antennas and solar panels capable of gathering information, according to the US.
The balloon, which was shot down by the US last Saturday, also had solar panels large enough to “power multiple active sensors to gather information.”
In addition, the official said the equipment inside “does not match” what is found inside a weather balloon – what China has claimed.
The country’s foreign ministry claimed that the “airship” had limited piloting capabilities and “deviated widely from its intended course” after going off course.
“It is a civil airship used for research purposes, mainly meteorological purposes,” the spokesman said.
“Influenced by the westerly winds and with reduced self-piloting ability, the airship has deviated far from its intended course. The Chinese side regrets the accidental intrusion of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure.
“The Chinese side will continue to communicate with the US side to adequately deal with this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”
Do you have a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check out our news site.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also have Metro.co.uk articles delivered straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push notifications here.
Get the top news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/11/canada-shoots-down-unidentified-object-in-airspace-18267889/ Canada shoots down 'unidentified object' in airspace