A week after knocking down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, a US fighter jet shot down an 'unidentified, unmanned object' over northern Canada that had entered its airspace from Alaska, the White House said on Saturday. This was the third incident in a week and the second such incident in two days. A day earlier, the US brought down an unauthorised object flying over its airspace. Almost a week ago, the US had shot down a Chinese 'spy balloon' which increased the tensions between Washington and Beijing.
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The White House on Saturday said that the object was closely tracked and monitored by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the President had been continually briefed by his national security team since the object was detected.
"Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and (Canadian) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau authorized it to be taken down," the statement said. Biden authorised US fighter aircraft assigned to NORAD to conduct the operation and a US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory in close coordination with Canadian authorities. Biden and Trudeau discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin.
A day before this, the White House confirmed that it had shot down another object flying over its airspace. White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby on Friday said the Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska. The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a credible threat to the safety of civilian flight.
"Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object," he said, adding that the object was shot down and it came inside US territorial waters. "Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour."
Last week, the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on President Biden's orders. The balloon, which entered from Canada, was taken down as it crossed continental America after hovering over its skies from Montana to South Carolina.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin said that a fighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command successfully brought down the high-altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC).