What is known about the mysterious objects that were shot down over North America

 

The third occasion in a week that US fighter jets have shot down an item in North American airspace was on Saturday, when an unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada.

A US F-22 shot down an unidentified object on Friday in Alaskan airspace, and last weekend, F-22s knocked down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

Although there is currently no evidence linking the unidentified items to China's surveillance balloon, it appears that national security officials across the continent are nevertheless on alert. On Saturday night, a radar anomaly led a jet to investigate before an all clear was sent, causing the airspace over Montana to be briefly restricted before being rapidly reopened.

Here is what is currently known.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said that the unidentified object that was shot down in Canadian territory had been followed since Friday evening.

Using assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard, two F-22 fighter jets from Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, Alaska, were sent up to monitor the object after it was discovered by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation to further analyze the object while monitoring continued when the object entered Canadian airspace, according to Ryder's statement.

Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, said ABC News on Sunday that White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan had informed him on the object and that it was probably another balloon, similar to the high-altitude object that crashed over Alaska on Friday.

The shoot-down was authorized on Saturday by both US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a statement from the White House.

According to a statement from the White House, "President Biden ordered US fighter planes assigned to NORAD to perform the mission and a US F-22 shot down the item in Canada in close conjunction with Canadian officials." "The leaders talked about how crucial it was to get the artefact back in order to learn more about its function or origin."

The unnamed object was brought down by an AIM-9X missile fired from a US F-22, the same weapon and aircraft that brought down the Chinese surveillance balloon on February 4 and an unidentified object on Friday.

"The item was flying at a height of around 40,000 feet, had illegally accessed Canadian airspace, and posed a plausible threat to the security of commercial aircraft," the report stated. About 100 miles from the Canadian-American border, over Canadian territory in the central Yukon, the object was shot down, according to her.

The FBI will "operate closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police" as Canadian officials execute recovery activities, according to Ryder's statement.

US aircraft have been shot down three times in a week.

The removal of an unidentifiable object on Saturday marks the third such incident in a week.

After being tracked by the US since Thursday night, an unidentified object was shot down by a US F-22 above Alaskan airspace on Friday.