US F-22 fighter jet shoots down another ‘unidentified object’, over northern Canada

An American fighter jet shot down another ‘unidentified object’, this time spotted in Canada skies on Saturday (February 11). The operation took place hours after the US shot down a 'high-altitude object' which was flying over Alaska. Notably, thiswas the third object to have been shot down in the last few days.A week earlier, the American military had brought down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast.

On Saturday, the US used an F-22 fighter jet to carry out the operation in which it downed the mysterious object, which was said to be cylindrical.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the object was shot down on Saturday over Yukon territory in north-west Canada. The Pentagon said that the object was first observed in Alaska the night before, and military officials closely tracked it.

After the operation, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he ordered the takedown of the object. "Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled, and a US F-22 successfully fired at the object," Trudeau tweeted.

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Trudeau also confirmed that the shootdown took place over the Yukon territory in the country's north. He noted that the Canadian forces would recover and analyze the wreckage.

This is the latestin a series of mysterious air intrusions as the week-long balloon saga has intrigued people globally.

On being asked about the operation and details about the object, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said it was cylindrical in shape, but she didn't speculate about the origin and purpose of the object.

She didn't directly connect it with Chinabut minister mentioned that it was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina's coast a week ago but was similar to it.

Talking about the joint operation, Anand said it was flying at 40,000 feet and posed a risk to civilian air traffic when it was shot down at 3:41 EST (2041 GMT).

Anand told a news conference: "There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern."

WATCH |Pentagon: High-altitude object was the size of a small car

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder said the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) had detected the object over Alaska late on Friday evening and monitored it over the last 24 hours and President Joe Biden was continuously briefed by his national security team since its spotting.

“A US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile following close coordination between US and Canadian authorities,” Ryder added.

The balloon saga started when a huge white-coloured Chinese balloon was shot down by American jets last weekend a few days after it was spotted in US airspace and tracked by authorities.

US State Department had said that the so-called "Chinese spy balloon" had equipment that was "clearly for intelligence surveillance," including "multiple antennas" that were "likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications."

The Chinese balloon in the US airspace escalated the tensions between the US and China, but Beijing said that it was a civilian "airship" which was used for research, mainly meteorological purposes. The Chinese had claimed that the balloon had gone astray then.

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