Trudeau: US fighter shot down object over northern Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. fighter jet shot down an unidentified object that was flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the U.S. took similar action over Alaska. North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined U.S.-Canada organization that provides shared defense of airspace over the two nations, said it had detected an object flying at a high altitude over northern Canada. Trudeau said he also spoke with President Joe Biden, who himself ordered the downing of an unidentified object over remote Alaska on Friday. F-22 fighter jets have now downed three objects in the airspace above the U.S. and Canada over seven days, a stunning development in the skies that is raising questions on just what, exactly, is hovering overhead and who has sent them. The down came a day after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said an object roughly the size of a small car was shot down in remote Alaska. Last Saturday, U.S. officials shot down a large white balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The U.S. has said Chinese balloons have flown over dozens of countries across five continents in recent years, and it learned more about the balloon program after closely monitoring the one shot down near South Carolina.