US fighter jet shoots down unidentified cylindrical object over Canada

Agencies | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

A US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday. 

Separately, the U.S. military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly that triggered a brief federal closure of airspace, Reuters reported.

"Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate the radar hits," the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced Saturday's shootdown over the northern Yukon territory, saying Canadian forces would recover and analyze the wreckage.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.

Aloft at 40,000 feet (12,200 m), it posed a risk to civilian air traffic and was shot down at 3:41 EST (2041 GMT), she added.

"There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern," Anand told a news conference.

The Pentagon said NORAD detected the object over Alaska late on Friday. 

US fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation.

"A US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory, using an AIM 9X missile following close co-ordination between US and Canadian authorities," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden authorized the US military to work with Canada to take down the high-altitude craft after a call between Biden and Trudeau, the Pentagon said. 

The White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to "defend our airspace."

"The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object to determine more details on its purpose or origin," it said in a statement.

A day earlier, Biden ordered another shoot down of an unidentified flying object near Deadhorse, Alaska.

On Saturday, the US military remained tight-lipped about what, if anything, it had learned as recovery efforts were underway on the Alaskan sea ice.

On Friday, the Pentagon offered only a few details, such as that the object was the size of a small car, was flying at about 40,000 feet (12,200 m), could not maneuver and appeared to be unmanned. 

US officials have been trying to learn about the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.

"We have no further details now about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin," Northern Command said on Saturday.

It mentioned difficult Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight that can hinder search and recovery.

"Personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety," it added.