Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that an “unidentified object” had been shot down over Canadian airspace on his orders.
“I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Trudeau said on Twitter.
Trudeau said that he spoke with US President Joe Biden on Saturday and that Canadian forces will lead the object recovery operation.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand tweeted Saturday that she had discussed the incident with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “and reaffirmed that we’ll always defend our sovereignty together.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command said earlier Saturday it was monitoring “a high altitude airborne object” over northern Canada, and military aircraft were operating in the area from Alaska and Canada, according to a news release from the agency.
It is not clear what the object is or whether it is related to the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down last week or another object shot down over Alaska on Friday.
