The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) shot down another "high-altitude airborne object" that was flying over the Canadian Yukon on Saturday.."To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that NORAD operation has downed an aerial object," Defence Minister Anita Anand (Oakville, ON) said during a press conference on Saturday night..Anand said the "small, cylindrical object" had illegally entered Canadian airspace and was flying at about 40,000 feet when Canadian F-18s and US F-22s were scrambled. .Anand said the object, which posed a "reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight," was shot down at around 3:40 p.m. by an F-22..A Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is currently in the air attempting to locate and recover the debris.."I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, QC) said shortly after it was downed. "I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object.".The Canadian government was first alerted to the object late Friday night when it was travelling through Alaska. But according to Anand, pilots had to wait until daylight emerged to shoot it down because they needed a clear visual of it..In response to a question by a reporter on whether the object was "non-terrestrial" and "out of this world," Anand reiterated that it was cylindrical in size and smaller than the balloon the US shot down over South Carolina last week.."That is the information that we are working with right now. But with further analysis, we will be able to provide you with more details," she said..Anand also refused to state whether the object was a balloon, saying she will "wait for the reports that I will be getting relating to the analysis of the debris.".This comes just one day after the US military shot down a "high-altitude object" over Alaska. Officials said the object was about the size of a small car and was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Officials said they were concerned that the object posed a danger to civilian flights..READ MORE: Second high-altitude object shot down over Alaska.Last week, the US Air Force also shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. China maintained that the balloon was being used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes, and had accidentally strayed into US airspace..Editor's note: a previous version of this story stated that Canada deployed F-15s to take down the object. This is incorrect; Canada launched its F-18s.
