US jet shoots mysterious flying object over Canada, second in 2 days

U.S. and Canada jointly shot down a mysterious unidentified flying object (UFO) illegally close to Canadian airspace on Saturday, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has confirmed.

The cylindrical object was discovered on Friday evening by NORAD, which led to its intercept by American and Canadian jets, according to Pentagon. 

"I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Sunday. 

"@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," he said. 

The choice to fire down the object was decided "out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries," the White House said in a statement.

On Saturday afternoon, the U.S. sent out an F-22 for the third time this week to shoot down a mysterious target.

An F-22 had previously shot down a cylindrical object above Alaskan airspace, which prompted the subsequent action. This follows the popping of the Chinese "spy balloon" earlier this week.

Cylindrical object

Anita Anand, Canada's Minister of Defense, said that the object, which seemed to be a small cylindrical object, was flying at the height of about 40,000 feet and constituted a plausible threat to the security of commercial aircraft.

The target was shot down in the Yukon, 100 miles from the U.S.-Canada border, and both American and Canadian planes took part in the operation.

The U.S. Defense Department is getting ready to gather and examine the object's debris in Alaska as Canadian authorities carry out recovery operations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation closely collaborates with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

For Defense Department operations, the FAA temporarily closed some airspace above Montana. Shortly after, it was reopened.

Senators Steve Daines, John Tester, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska have all issued statements claiming to have spoken with Pentagon representatives about the incident.

'Being more vigilant now'

According to a U.S. official, "being more vigilant now" is to blame for the recent rise in balloon downings and related occurrences.

Meanwhile, unfavorable weather, according to NORAD, is making it more difficult to recover the Chinese balloon in the Atlantic and the unidentified plane above Alaska.

"While we cannot discuss specifics related to these activities at this time, please note that NORAD conducts sustained, dispersed operations in the defence of North America through one or all three NORAD regions," said Maj. Olivier Gallant, a spokesperson for NORAD, in a statement to Global News earlier.

The U.S. and Canadian Defense Departments, along with the FAA, are keeping a careful eye on the situation and working to recover and examine the object's debris.