Anita Anand announced at a press conference that the object was shot down by warplanes at 3:41 p.m. Ottawa time (2041 GMT) in the central region of Canada’s Yukon Territory, about 100 miles from the U.S. border. States.
When asked if the object was of Chinese origin, the defense minister added that he did not want to speculate about the object’s origin.
Anand also noted that while the object is smaller, it resembles the Chinese balloon the United States dropped off the coast of North Carolina on Feb. 4 after the United States flew over much of the country.
You may be interested: The US has confirmed that it has popped China’s “spy bubble”.
“It would be unwise to speculate at this time about the object’s origin,” said the Canadian minister, asking for more information until authorities analyzed the data.
Although the object was discovered hours before it fell, the lack of daylight to visually identify it meant that Canadian authorities had to wait before ordering it neutralized.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that he and US President Joe Biden have decided to continue the demolition.
Trudeau also explained that the object has been tracked by US military officials for the past 24 hours.
The object was eventually shot down by an AIM-9X infrared missile fired by a United States Air Force F-22 Raptor operating under orders from the North American Defense Command along with a Canadian Air Force CF-18 aircraft..
In addition to combat aircraft, CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft from Canada also participated in the operation.
Also read: US sees another Chinese spy balloon flying over Latin America
Formed in 1958 to defend US and Canadian airspace, Norad shot down a flying object in the region for the first time.
“The importance of this moment should not be underestimated. “We detected the object together and shot it together,” Anand said.
Canadian officials said they are beginning to recover the remains of the object.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
