The US military shot down a new flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday, the fourth such craft to violate Canadian and US airspace in just over a week.
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“He was shot down by pilots from the United States Air Force and the National Guard,” Elissa Slotkin, elected from Michigan, confirmed on Twitter Sunday afternoon.
Hours earlier, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) disclosed that the airspace over Lake Michigan had been closed “to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during operations. NORAD,” the organization said in a statement.
Shot Saturday in the Yukon
This event comes as three other flying objects have been shot down in Canada and the United States in the past few days.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the military to ground a strange unidentified flying craft in Yukon airspace.
“The safety of citizens is our top priority. That’s why I made the decision to shoot down this unidentified object, ”said Mr. Trudeau, during a press briefing on Sunday morning.
At the time of this brief statement, the Prime Minister was about to fly to Whitehorse, where he is to meet with Indigenous leaders and visit the site where the mysterious device was recovered.
Recall that on February 10, Washington announced that it had shot down an “object” flying at high altitude over Alaska. On February 4, a Chinese spy balloon was also fired by a US military missile off the coast of South Carolina.
a provocation
A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) executive, Michel Juneau-Katsuya, says Canada must be ready to intervene.
“We are used to incursions […] often by Chinese or Russian fighter planes which simply come to test our defense […] What we see are incursions that go a little further and destabilize the governance of the two countries,” he said.
According to Mr. Juneau-Katsuya, these flying objects are mainly intended to “destabilize and provoke” the Canadian and American governments.
“Could there be elements within the Chinese leadership that are trying to provoke a conflict between China and the United States? asks the expert.
– With AFP and TVA Nouvelles
The strange flying machines shot down this month:
- February 4: US military shoots down Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina
- February 10: Washington announces that it has shot down an “object” flying at high altitude over Alaska
- February 11: Justin Trudeau orders to fire and bring down an unidentified object that violated Canadian Yukon airspace
- February 12: the US military shoots down a new “object” at high altitude, this time over Lake Huron