“Unidentified object” was shot down over Canada, Trudeau says

An “unidentified object” that “violated Canadian airspace” was shot down over Canada on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed.

The object was shot down by a US military F-22 over the Yukon, Trudeau said.

A US official previously confirmed to CBS News on Saturday that the object was detected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and appeared to be a “high-flying balloon”.

Trudeau tweeted that “Canadian and American planes were shot down” after he “ordered the shooting down” of a NORAD facility.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand wrote on Twitter On Saturday, she spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the facility, and that they “reaffirmed that we will always defend our sovereignty together.”

It’s coming one day after the “high-altitude object” was shot down by the US military over Alaska, and for sure one week after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the military off the coast of South Carolina.

Before Saturday’s latest incident, NORAD said in a news release that search and recovery operations were underway in the “sea ice” near Deadhorse, Alaska, where the object was shot down on Friday. However, freezing temperatures and arctic weather conditions posed challenges for the crews.

Recovery operations for the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down in the Atlantic Ocean on February 4 continued, with crews using divers and underwater drones. The effort involved the US Northern Command, the US Navy and the FBI.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday that the object seen over Alaska was the size of a “small car.” It was brought down more easily than a Chinese spy balloon, Kirby said, which was larger than the Statue of Liberty.

The Chinese spy balloon was part of a “larger Chinese surveillance balloon program” that had been operating for several years on several continents, the Pentagon said. This balloon, which was first spotted in Alaska on January 28, flew across the continental United States before it was shot down. Beide administration officials said the decision to delay his beating was made because of the risk to civilians on the ground.

— David Martin, Kathryn Watson and Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.