Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday that an "unidentified object" had been shot down over northwestern Canada, the day after US officials announced that an object had been shot down over Alaska.
"I ordered the shooting down of an unidentified object that was flying in Canadian airspace," Trudeau said in a tweet, adding, "Two Canadian and American planes were sent, and an American F-22 fighter succeeded in hitting the target."
Trudeau added that Canadian forces will recover and analyze the wreckage of the unidentified object.
The prime minister also said that he spoke with US President Joe Biden about the incident, a day after Biden issued orders to shoot down a flying object at a high altitude that violated US airspace over territorial waters near Alaska.
The two incidents come a week after US forces shot down a Chinese spy balloon, sparking a new diplomatic dispute with Beijing.
Washington's downing of the Chinese balloon last week led to an exchange of accusations and statements between both Beijing and Washington, as China responded at the time that it reserved the right to "take further measures," and criticized the United States for its "exaggerated response and serious violation of international practices."
This incident caused the postponement of a scheduled visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to China, and the US authorities are still making efforts to collect the debris of the airship from the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South Carolina.