U.S. Air Force Downs Third Flying Object In North American Airspace In A Week

Less than a week after a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down by the military after crossing the U.S., Air Force fighters shot down two other flying objects in North American airspace, one over Alaska’s North Slope on Friday and the latest one over northern Canada on Saturday.

Recovery and investigation teams from both countries are in the process of uncovering details about the objects, though thus far, no relationship has been identified between the more recent objects and the balloon.

“I ordered the takedown 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,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had agreed to continue close communication with President Joe Biden about the next steps, said in a Saturday Twitter post.

The most recent object, allegedly circular in shape, was first spotted in Alaska Friday evening and crossed into Canadian territory before it was downed in central Yukon by an AIM 9X missile.

Meanwhile, the second object was first detected on Thursday before Biden gave the go-ahead for its destruction over the frozen waters of Alaska.

Attributing the delay in the investigation to the Arctic chill and low sunlight levels, officials released little information, aside from the fact that it was flying at an altitude of around 40,000 feet, was unmanned and posed what Pentagon described to be a “reasonable” threat to civilian flight.

Though they confirmed that it was the size of a small car – and that it was much smaller than the Chinese balloon – they repeatedly declined to comment on whether it was a balloon, a reporter for Alaska Public Media said.

In another development, the United States Federal Aviation Administration briefly closed the airspace over Montana on Saturday evening following the detection of a radar anomaly, though no relevant object was identified.

These events come as Congress is looking more closely at the rise of UFO events across the U.S.