Toronto (Canada), (EFE).- Canada shot down a small “cylindrical” object that was flying over the northwest of the country at an altitude of about 12,000 meters because it represented a threat to civil aviation, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand declared this Saturday .
Anand declared during a press conference that the object was shot down by combat planes at 15:41 Ottawa time (20:41 GMT) in the central area of the Yukon Territory, in northwestern Canada, and about 160 kilometers from the border with the United States. Joined.
The Defense Minister added that she did not want to speculate on the origin of the object to questions whether it was of Chinese origin.
Anand also pointed out that the object appeared to be similar, although smaller, to the Chinese balloon that the United States shot down on February 4 off the coast of North Carolina (USA) after flying over much of the country.
“It would not be prudent for me to speculate on the origin of the object at this time,” explained the Canadian minister who asked to wait until the authorities have analyzed the data to offer more information.
Although the object was detected hours before its demolition, the lack of daylight to visually identify it made the Canadian authorities wait before giving the order for its neutralization.
Follow-up with the US authorities
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that he decided together with US President Joe Biden to proceed with the demolition.
Trudeau also revealed that the object had been followed by US military authorities for the past 24 hours.
The object was eventually shot down with an AIM-9X infrared missile launched by a United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, which was operating alongside Canadian Air Force CF-18 aircraft under orders from the North American Defense Command. Aerospace (Norad).
Along with the fighter jets, a CP-140 Aurora patrol plane from Canada also participated in the operation.
It is the first time that Norad, which was created in 1958 to defend the airspace of the United States and Canada, has shot down an object flying in the region.
“The importance of this moment should not be underestimated. We jointly detect the object and jointly shoot it down,” Anand said.
The Canadian authorities indicated that they have begun work to recover the remains of the object.