US Jet shot down ‘unidentified object’ over Canada, says PM Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that an “unidentified object” had been shot down by a US fighter jet over Canadian airspace on his orders.

In a tweet, Trudeau said that he ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon, he added. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object, informed Trudeau.

Later on Saturday, the White House also confirmed that Trudeau and US President Joe Biden authorised the shoot-down and the Pentagon said the object was first spotted over Alaska on Friday evening.

Trudeau said that he spoke with Biden on Saturday and that Canadian forces would lead the object recovery operation.

The object shot down on Saturday marks the third time in one week that US aircraft have shot down an object in North American airspace. Saturday’s incident followed the downing of another unidentified object on Friday over Alaska and the shoot-down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on the 4th of February by a US F-22 fighter jet.

On the other hand, the United States has blacklisted six Chinese entities it said were linked to Beijing’s aerospace programs as part of its retaliation over an alleged Chinese spy balloon that entered U.S. airspace.

The move is likely to further escalate the diplomatic row between the U.S. and China sparked by the balloon, which was shot down last weekend off the Carolina coast.

The U.S. said the balloon was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals, but Beijing insists it was a weather craft that had blown off course.