Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – An unidentified flying object or unidentified flying object (UFO), shot down by an American F-22 fighter jet over Canadian skies.
It was the second such incident in as many days in North America, at a time when Washington still appears concerned following the emergence of Chinese spy balloons last week.
Separately, the U.S. military also deployed fighter jets to Montana to investigate a radar anomaly that triggered a brief closure of federal airspace.
“The aircraft did not identify any objects that could correlate with a radar attack,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement, as cited by ReutersTuesday (2/14/2023).
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the shooting on Saturday (11/2) in the northern Yukon Territory. He said Canadian troops would recover and analyze the debris.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate on the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.
He said the object was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina a week ago, although it was similar in appearance.
Located at an altitude of 12,200 meters, the object posed a risk to civilian air traffic and was shot down at 3:41 a.m. EST.
“There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object on Canadian soil causes public concern,” Anand said at a news conference.
The Pentagon said NORAD detected the same object over Alaska Friday evening.
U.S. fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation.
“The American F-22 shot down the object over Canadian territory, using an AIM 9X missile after close coordination between American and Canadian authorities,” said Pentagon spokesperson brigadier. General Patrick Ryder.
US President Joe Biden authorized the US military to work with Canada to bring down the plane from high altitude following a call between Biden and Trudeau, the Pentagon said.
The White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to defend the airspace.
“Leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object to determine more details about its purpose or origin,” he said in a statement.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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