11 February 2023 , 22:17
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Canada has shot down an 'unidentified object' after it entered its airspace, the country's prime minister has said.
It comes one day after the US president ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified "high-altitude object" off Alaska.
In a tweet, Justin Trudeau wrote: “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @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."
It is not clear what the object is or if it is related to the Chinese spy balloon shot down last week or the other object that was shot down yesterday.
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This spy balloon was shot down on February 4 (EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock)The North American Aerospace Defense Command said earlier today that it was monitoring “a high altitude airborne object” over northern Canada with military aircraft operating in the area from Alaska and Canada.
The object that was shot down yesterday was flying at 40,000ft over the coast of Alaska and had reached speeds of 40mph.
It was travelling towards the North Pole before being shot down.
This is the ballon that was shot down on February 4 (Chad Fish/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The White House said the object was "the size of a small car" and posed a "reasonable threat" to commercial flights. The purpose of the object remains unclear.
It is the second time the American military has been ordered to destroy an object in the sky this month after a Chinese balloon was spotted floating over US waters.
The first object was shot down last Saturday in South Carolina after John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman, said it posed a "reasonable threat" to the safety of civilian flights.
However, China has rejected claims the objects were part of a spying mission and said they were civilian meteorological balloons that had blown off course.
They added the US had "overreacted" by shooting them down.
The first object shot down by US jets was last Saturday after a Chinese spy balloon had been flying over Billings, in Montana, before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
The mysterious balloon was ordered by Joe Biden to be shot down amid rising tensions between the US and China.
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Eyewitnesses captured the moment the object was shot down as balloon debris was found largely intact on the ocean floor as divers recovered most of the balloon.
The balloon was found to be carrying equipment capable of intercepting communications.
“The high-altitude balloon’s equipment was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons,” a senior state department official said.