Canada shot down this Saturday (11.02.2023) an unknown object that violated the country’s airspace and was flying at high altitude, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced.

The aircraft was detected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD for its acronym in English), an organization formed by Canada and the United States, and shot down as it flew over Yucón, a territory in the northwest of the country which borders Alaska.

This event occurs after the United States shot down an unknown flying object that was flying over Alaska and shot down a balloon of Chinese origin that was allegedly used by Beijing for espionage tasks.

“I ordered the downing of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” Trudeau said in a statement. Twitter. Planes from the United States and Canada took part in the surveillance operation for the device, although it was an American F-22 that “successfully fired” on the object, detailed the Prime Minister, who coordinated with the President of the United States, Joe Biden.

The downed object was cylindrical and flew at a height of 12 km

For her part, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said at a press conference that the device was small, “cylindrical” and that it flew at an altitude of about 12 kilometers, but did not want to speculate on its origin.

Anand also noted that the object appeared to be similar, though smaller in size, to the Chinese balloon shot down by the United States. “It would not be prudent for me to speculate on the origin of the object at this time”, argued the Canadian minister who asked to wait until the authorities had analyzed the data to offer more information.

It is the first time that NORAD, created in 1958 to defend the airspace of the United States and Canada, has shot down a flying object in the region. “The significance of this moment should not be underestimated. We jointly detected the object and shot it down together,” Anand said. Canadian authorities said they have begun work to recover the remains of the object.

Last updated at 03:43 with statements from Anita Anand

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