On Saturday, the United States shot down an unidentified object that was over Canada. The news comes as multiple Chinese spy balloons have been detected traversing the Americas.
The White House released a readout of a discussion of the situation between U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudaeu.
“Earlier today, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau on the unidentified, unmanned object in North American air space,” it said. “The object was closely tracked and monitored by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) over the last 24 hours and the President has been continually briefed by his national security team since the object was detected. Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorized it to be taken down.”
“President Biden authorized US fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD to conduct the operation and a US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory in close coordination with Canadian authorities,” it continued. “The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin. President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau commended NORAD’s and U.S. Northern Command’s strong and effective partnership and agreed to continue their close coordination to detect, track, and defend our airspace.”
Trudeau announced the incident on Twitter.
“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.
“I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object. Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America,” he added.
I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object. Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 11, 2023