Washington, Feb. 12 (BNA): An American F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday.
Separately, the US military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly that led to a brief federal airspace shutdown, Reuters reported.
“These aircraft did not identify any object linking the radar fall,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the gunfire Saturday over the northern Yukon Territory, saying Canadian forces would recover and analyze the wreckage.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand refused to speculate on the source of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.
It added that it was lifted at an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,200 metres) posing a risk to civilian air traffic and was shot down at 3:41 a.m. EDT (2041 GMT).
“There is no reason to believe that the impact of the body on Canadian soil is of any public concern,” Anand told a news conference.
The Pentagon said NORAD detected the object over Alaska late on Friday.
American fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed Canadian airspace, as Canadian CF-18s and CP-140s joined the formation.
“A US F-22 aircraft shot down the object on Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile after close coordination between US and Canadian authorities,” said a Pentagon spokesman, Brig. General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
The Pentagon said that US President Joe Biden authorized the US military to work with Canada to land the boat at high altitudes, after a call between Biden and Trudeau.
The White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination “to defend our airspace.”
“The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object to determine more details about its purpose or provenance,” it said in a statement.
The day before, Biden ordered an unidentified flying object to be shot down again near Deadhorse, Alaska.
On Saturday, the US military remained silent about what, if anything, it learned during the ongoing sea ice recovery efforts in Alaska.
On Friday, the Pentagon provided only a few details, such as that the object was about the size of a small car, was flying at an altitude of about 40,000 feet (12,200 metres), could not maneuver and appeared to be unmanned.
US officials have been trying to identify the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.
“We have no further details right now on the object, including its capabilities, purpose or provenance,” Northern Command said on Saturday.
He mentioned the difficult climatic conditions in the Arctic, including cold winds, snow and limited daylight that could hinder research and recovery.
“People will adjust recalls to maintain safety,” she added.
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