The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) successfully shot down a foreign object that was flying over northern Canada on Saturday, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
NORAD confirmed that a high-altitude airborne object had been spotted, but did not identify what the object was.
Trudeau posted a statement on Twitter regarding the sighting. He says that the "unidentified" object that violated Canadian airspace was taken down by a U.S. F-22 over the Yukon Territories. Both Canadian and U.S. aircraft were involved in the effort.
Canadian Forces started recovering and analyzing the wreckage later that day.
"Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America," Trudeau added.
Defence Minister Anita Anand provided an update later Saturday evening revealing more details about the incident.
Anand said the object was flying at an altitude of about 40,000 feet and was around 100 miles from the U.S.-Canada border when it was downed.
She described the object as small and cylindrical.
This was the third flying object that has violated North American airspace since the beginning of the month.
As of Sunday, several U.S. news outlets reported that a fourth flying object was discovered over Lake Huron, once again near the U.S.-Canada border. Sources say NORAD was able to shoot the fourth object down, as well.
Anand once again spoke out about the fourth flying object, saying both Canadian and U.S. aircraft were investigating the sighting and the Canadian government supported the U.S.'s decision to shoot the object down.
"We will continue to work with the U.S. and NORAD to protect North America," she concluded.
Prior to the events of the weekend, NORAD took down a confirmed surveillance balloon on February 4 that had been flying through Canada and the U.S. for several days. Less than a week later, the command shot down another high-altitude object over the northern coast of Alaska.
