Objects shot down over North America ‘all connected’

Justin Trudeau said the four objects shot down over North America in recent days displayed a “pattern” and were connected in some way.

It came as US and Canadian officials struggled to explain the origin of three of the objects that were downed in the wake of a Chinese spy balloon being destroyed on Feb 4 off the South Carolina coast.

The Canadian prime minister said: “Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there – the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention.”

Mr Trudeau did not elaborate on what the “pattern” was.

On Sunday, US military fighter jets shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron.

The day before, a cylindrical object was destroyed over Canada’s Yukon and investigators are still hunting for the wreckage.

A day before that, on Friday, an object was shot down over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska.

Mr Trudeau, speaking in Whitehorse, Yukon’s capital, said winter weather was hampering recovery efforts.

He said it was a “very serious situation” and he would discuss the issue of aerial objects with Joe Biden when they meet next month.

Asked why Canada itself did not shoot down the object over Yukon, Trudeau said: “Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is a joint command, which means we do things together over North America, and there were Canadian and American fighter jets scrambled to intercept the object and to take it down.

“Our focus was not on which side gets credit for what.”

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said he could not elaborate on the “pattern” Mr Trudeau referred to.

He suggested it could mean that all the objects were moving in the same direction, with the prevailing winds, west to east across North America.

Mr Kirby also said that the US will ask allies to provide any details of similar unidentified objects over their air space.

The US president has directed Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, and Avril Haines, the Director of National intelligence, to speak to their counterparts in order to “share what we’re learning, but also get their perspectives,” Mr Kirby said.

He added: “We’re going to have those kinds of conversations with allies and partners, what kind of experiences they have had, to see what we can learn from them, and also what they can learn from us.

“Our friends and our partners are dealing with this as well. This is an issue that affects everyone around the world. The president has made this a very top priority.”

Mr Kirby denied allegations by Beijing that the US had flown spy balloons over China.

He added that there were no US surveillance aircraft of any kind in Chinese air space.

He said that US radar had been reset in the wake of the Chinese spy balloon to pick up high-altitude, slow-moving objects.

Mr Kirby said: “One of the reasons we think we’re seeing more is because we’re looking.”

Some of the payload from the Chinese spy balloon, including some of its electronics, had been recovered from 45ft of water off South Carolina, he said.

Asked if the incidents had set back relations with China, Mr Kirby said: “It has certainly not helped us move forward in the way that we wanted to move.”

Mr Kirby officially ruled out that any of the objects shot down were of extraterrestrial origin.

He said: “I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these craft. Period.”

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said: “I know there have been questions and concerns about this but there is no, again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.”

On Sunday, a US Air Force general had said he could not rule out aliens, or any other explanation.