NORAD shoots down 'unidentified object' over Yukon

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has shot down an unidentified object in Canadian airspace, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday.

"I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. [NORAD] 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 in a statement on Twitter.

"I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object," he said.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said in a news conference the "small, cylindrical object" was about 40,000 feet (around 12.2 kilometres) above ground and downed — due to possible risks to civilian aviation — at around 3:40 p.m. ET about 100 miles (around 161 kilometres) from the U.S. border in central Yukon.

A senior government source with direct knowledge of the situation told CBC News that the Canadian government was first alerted to the object Friday night when it was still travelling through Alaska.

The source added the object crossed into Yukon on Saturday morning and Trudeau ordered the shoot down by whichever country arrived at it first.

"I want to assure Yukoners that at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk," Ranj Pillai, the territory's premier, said in a statement. "I also want to commend the prime minister for taking decisive action to protect Yukoners and all Canadians."

While Trudeau described the object as "unidentified," Maj. Olivier Gallant, a NORAD spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the military had determined what it was but would not reveal details.

In a statement, the White House said Biden spoke with Trudeau on Saturday about the "unidentified, unmanned object" and the leaders discussed the importance of recovering it "in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin."

3 incidents in 1 week

Saturday's downing is the third such incident over North American skies in the past week.

Last Saturday, the U.S. military destroyed what it asserts was a Chinese surveillance balloon that had traversed the continent, including through Yukon. China says it was a weather balloon that was blown off course.

That incident led to Washington placing sanctions on six Chinese entities it says are linked to Beijing's aerospace industry and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cancelling a planned trip to China.

On Friday, the U.S. shot down what it described as an object roughly the size of a small car that was flying at an altitude of around 40,000 feet off the coast of Alaska. Officials said that they were acting on concerns the object posed a danger to civilian flights, rather than knowledge that it was collecting intelligence.

Also on Saturday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) briefly closed about 50 by 50 nautical miles of airspace around Havre, Mont., near the Canadian border, for undisclosed Defence Department activities.

The U.S. military said later that the closure was prompted by a radar anomaly but no threatening object was detected.