Unknown object shot down by US over Alaska was heading into Canada: Reports

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The unknown object shot down but the US over Alaska was heading into Canadian airspace, as confirmed by some sources. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday, “The general area would be just off the very, very northeastern part of Alaska, right near the Alaska-Canada border. We're calling this an object, because that's the best description we have right now. We do not know who owns it.”

Today’s order to shoot it down came directly from U.S. President Joe Biden, just hours after Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand met with her American counterpart at the Pentagon.

Anita Anand said in a statement to CTV News, “Today at the Pentagon, United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and I participated in a call with NORAD Commander, General Glen VanHerck regarding a high-altitude object detected over Alaska.”

Roughly the size of a small car, the object was first detected Thursday night. No details have emerged about its origins and purpose. Travelling at 40,000 feet (12,000 metres) and apparently unmanned and unable to manoeuvre, it was deemed a reasonable safety threat to civilian flights and shot down over the Arctic Ocean.

This incident follows the Feb. 4 downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that spent a week traversing Canada and the U.S.