Again: US plane shoots down unknown flying object over Canada French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah released from Evin prison

The flying object over northern Canada was shot down by a US fighter jet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday. “I have ordered the downing of an unknown object that violated Canadian airspace,” he wrote on Twitter. Shortly before, the North American Air Defense Command Norad had announced that after a flying object was shot down over Alaska on Friday, another had been discovered at high altitudes over northern Canada.

Trudeau went on to say that Canadian and American fighter jets were involved in the downing over Yukon Territory in the country’s northwest. An American F-22 plane then fired at the object. “The Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the debris from the object.” Trudeau said he had also spoken with US President Joe Biden about the matter. However, it was initially unclear where the flying object came from and what purpose it served.

It was only on Friday that the US military shot down a suspected similar aircraft over Alaska. The US government justified the action by saying that civil air traffic was in danger. According to the information, the object over Alaska was about the size of a small car and thus much smaller than the Chinese balloon. According to initial findings, the object itself should not have been agile.

As of Saturday, the U.S. military had no information about his parentage. “Currently, we have no further details on the object, including its capabilities, purpose or origin,” said Northern Command (Northcom). The salvage work continued, but would be complicated by the “arctic weather conditions”. These include icy winds, snow and limited daylight. The disposal of the debris takes place on the sea ice.

The flying object over Alaska was first sighted Thursday evening (local time), National Security Council communications director John Kirby said. US President Joe Biden was immediately notified and issued the resignation order Friday morning. American fighter jets had approached the object earlier. The pilots would have ensured that the flying object was unmanned. CNN, citing a US government official, reported that the object appeared to have no surveillance equipment.

It was shot off the coast of Alaska near the Canadian border – not far from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Ottawa government was also aware of the project. The military said the shooting did not pose a major risk to people or buildings on the ground.

The incident was reminiscent of the Chinese balloon allegedly used for espionage purposes that the US Air Force had taken down a week ago. According to military information, at about 18 kilometers, this had flown significantly higher than the object over Alaska, which was flying at an altitude of 12 to 13 kilometers.

The US military floated the Chinese balloon over the US mainland for several days and then shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. The United States accuses the Chinese government of using it to spy on military facilities. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course – describing the launch as an “overreaction”. The incident added tension to the already tense relationship between the two countries.

Unidentified flying objects are not uncommon. In 2020, the United States Department of Defense created a task force to analyze “unexplained airborne phenomena that may pose a threat to U.S. national security.” Since then, the group has been publishing reports on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAP) at irregular intervals – most recently a few weeks ago. It turned out that the US military has no explanation for numerous sightings of unidentified flying objects.

In contrast, other sightings were classified as “inconspicuous” — they could be traced to common objects in the sky — such as drones, balloons and debris such as plastic bags, the report said. Reports of unexplained celestial phenomena have increased. However, the Pentagon had made it clear that no evidence of extraterrestrial life had been found. (sda/dpa)