The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint US-Canadian command, recently shot down an unidentified object flying over Canada. According to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the unmanned thing was targeted over the Yukon and was shot down by an American F-22 fighter jet. The US defence department stated that two F-22s monitored the object as it flew over US airspace and that the F-22 shot the thing with an AIM 9X missile, the same weapon used to target a Chinese spy balloon off the US coast last week.
This recent shooting of an unidentified object follows another incident just a day before, where the US military shot down a “high-altitude object” off the coast of Alaska. Both incidents have put Washington and Ottawa on high alert following a large Chinese spy balloon’s week-long incursion into the US and Canadian airspace. The Biden administration has responded to the recent events by putting six Chinese groups with alleged connections to Beijing’s spy balloon program on the “entity list”, effectively barring American companies from providing them with US technology.
China has insisted that the balloon was a civilian craft conducting meteorological research, but the US and Canada remain sceptical. The drama of the spy balloon has disrupted efforts to stabilize the US-China relationship, which has reached its lowest level since the countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1979. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a visit to China in response to the balloon incursion and Beijing’s refusal to admit it was a spy vessel.
Anita Anand, Canada’s Defense Minister, stated that the latest object was shot down over central Yukon at about 40,000ft and appeared to be similar to the one shot down over the coast of South Carolina but smaller in size and cylindrical in shape. Anand would not speculate on its origins.
The Pentagon has revealed that China had flown three balloons over parts of the US during the Trump administration and one balloon through US airspace in the Biden administration. The US military is conducting recovery operations in Alaska, in conjunction with the FBI and local police, to salvage the object’s remains shot down on Friday. The FBI is also taking custody of the debris recovered off the coast of South Carolina from the Chinese balloon.
Experts are speculating on the origins of these unidentified objects and their potential connection with China. If there is a connection, it would suggest that the Chinese military is changing its operations. Heino Klinck, a former senior Pentagon official and expert on the People’s Liberation Army, stated, “If this is all China’s doing, it’s a real manifestation of how their counter-normative behaviour has expanded, not only geographically, but also operationally.”
The recent shooting down of two unidentified objects by NORAD has put the US and Canada on high alert and is causing concern about potential security threats. The Biden administration has responded by putting Chinese groups with alleged connections to Beijing’s spy balloon program on the “entity list”. The US military is currently conducting recovery operations in Alaska and off the coast of South Carolina to salvage the remains of the objects. The potential connection with China is a cause for concern and is closely monitored by experts and the US and Canadian governments.
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