Separately, US military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly
\n OTTAWA\/ WASHINGTON
\nA US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday, the second such instance in as many days, as North America appeared on edge following a week-long Chinese spying balloon saga that drew the global spotlight.
\nSeparately, the US military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly that triggered a brief federal closure of airspace.
\n\u201cThose aircraft did not identify any object to correlate the radar hits,\u201d the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) said in a statement.
\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced Saturday\u2019s shootdown over the northern Yukon territory, saying Canadian forces would recover and analyze the wreckage.
\nCanadian Defence Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.
\nShe stopped short of calling it a balloon but said it was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina\u2019s coast a week ago, though similar in appearance.
\nAloft 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.
\n\u201cThere is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern,\u201d Anand told a news conference.
\nThe Pentagon said NORAD detected the object over Alaska late on Friday.
\nUS 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.
\n\u201cA US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory, using an AIM 9X missile following close co-ordination between US and Canadian authorities,\u201d Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
\nUS 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.
\nThe White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to \u201cdefend our airspace.\u201d
\n\u201cThe leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin,\u201d it said in a statement.
\nA day earlier, Biden ordered another shootdown of an unidentified flying object near Deadhorse, Alaska.
\nOn Saturday, the US military remained tight-lipped about what, if anything, it had learned as recovery efforts were underway on the Alaskan sea ice.
\nOn 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 manoeuvre and appeared to be unmanned.
\nUS officials have been trying to learn about the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.
\n\u201cWe have no further details at this time about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin,\u201d Northern Command said on Saturday.
\nIt mentioned difficult Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight that can hinder search and recovery.
\n\u201cPersonnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety,\u201d it added.
\nOn Feb. 4, a US F-22 fighter jet brought down what the US government called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina following its week-long journey across the United States and portions of Canada.
\nChina has said it was a civilian research vessel.
\nSome US lawmakers criticized Biden for not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner. The US military had recommended waiting until it was over the ocean, for fear of injuries from falling debris.
\nUS personnel have been scouring the ocean to recover debris and the undercarriage of electronic gadgetry since the shootdown of the 200-foot (60-meter) -tall Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.
\nThe Pentagon has said a significant amount of the balloon had already been recovered or located, suggesting American officials may soon have more information about any Chinese espionage capabilities aboard.
\nSea conditions on Feb. 10 \u201cpermitted dive and underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) activities and the retrieval of additional debris from the sea floor,\u201d Northern Command said.
\n\u201cThe public may see US Navy vessels moving to and from the site as they conduct offload and resupply activities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Separately, US military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly OTTAWA\/ WASHINGTON A US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday, the second such instance in as many days, as North America appeared on edge following a week-long Chinese spying balloon saga that drew the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-313324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n