Approximate location where the object was shot down. | |
| Date | February 11, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | Yukon, Canada |
| Type | Airspace violator |
| Outcome | Downed by an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile fired by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor |
On February 11, 2023, NORAD, at the direction of the Canadian Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Defence Staff, downed an unidentified object over Yukon. [1] [2]
After snowfall in the area made the debris difficult to find, the search was called off on February 17. [3] [4]
The object was downed a day after an Alaskan high-altitude object was shot down, and a week after the 2023 Chinese balloon incident.
The prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said NORAD monitored the object and deployed American and Canadian aircraft. Two U.S. Air Force F-22s from Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, assisted by refueling aircraft, monitored the object over U.S. airspace and continued to monitor it as it entered Canadian airspace. Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation monitoring the object after it passed into Canadian airspace. [5]
According to The Wall Street Journal , the object appeared to be a "small metallic balloon with a tethered payload". [6] On February 12, after receiving a briefing from the United States National Security Council, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the U.S. believes that both the Yukon and Alaska objects were balloons. [7] National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated that they were considering that the balloon, as well as other balloons shot down during the same time period, were "tied to commercial or research entities and therefore totally benign." [8] An anonymous Canadian official speaking to The Globe and Mail stated that the object was believed to be a surveillance balloon of Chinese or Russian origin. [9]
Minister of National Defence Anita Anand said the object was flying at an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight. [10] She called it cylindrical and smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down a few days earlier. Anand dismissed the idea that there was any reason the impact of the object was of public concern. [11] The White House said president Joe Biden and Trudeau had "discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin". [12]
Amateur radio enthusiasts speculated that the object may be an amateur radio pico balloon with callsign K9YO, from the fact that the balloon's last reported contact was immediately before it drifted over the Yukon, at around the same place and time where the shootdown was reported. The balloon had been airborne for 124 days and circumnavigated the globe 7 times before being reported missing. [13] High-altitude, circumnavigational pico balloons cost between $12 and $180, weigh less than 6 lb and are filled with helium or hydrogen gas. Hobbyists have been using them for a decade. [14] Pico balloons are small enough they are not considered a hazard to aircraft, and thus this balloon was registered with the Federal Communications Commission but not the Federal Aviation Administration. [15]
NORAD ordered a USAF F-22 to down the object in Canadian airspace, marking the fighter's third air-to-air kill. [16] The object was shot down at 3:41 a.m. local time. [17] The object will also be investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [5] This shoot down marked the first deployment of NORAD to down an aerial object within the 64-year history of the US-Canadian aerospace warning and air sovereignty organization. [8]
Canadian military and police forces searched for remnants of the object across a large portion of Yukon, roughly between Dawson City and Mayo. [18] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that the search area encompassed 3,000 sq km (1,870 sq miles) of "rugged mountain terrain with a very high level of snowpack" in Yukon. [19] Canadian Defense Minister Anand said that the debris was located somewhere "northeast of Dawson City" in a remote location amid "complex alpine terrain that is prone to challenging northern weather conditions." [20] Officials cautioned that, due to the vastness and harsh conditions of Yukon, it is possible that the object will not be located. [21]
The RCMP lead the search effort, with coordination by Public Safety Canada and assistance from Yukon-based units of the Canadian Armed Forces. [20] The U.S. military, FBI, and U.S. Coast Guard also participated. [20] Royal Canadian Air Force assets deployed in the recovery effort included one CC-130H Hercules search-and-rescue aircraft, two CC-138 Twin Otter utility aircraft, and various CH-148 Cyclone and CH-149 Cormorant helicopters. [20]
After snowfall in the area made the debris difficult to find, the search was called off on February 17. [3] [4]
An unidentified flying object (UFO), or unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. Upon investigation, most UFOs are identified as known objects or atmospheric phenomena, while a small number remain unexplained.
In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minima, i.e., in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), as specified in the rules of the relevant aviation authority. The pilot must be able to operate the aircraft with visual reference to the ground, and by visually avoiding obstructions and other aircraft.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the flight was shot down by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor. The Boeing 747 airliner was en route from Anchorage to Seoul, but owing to a navigational mistake made by the crew, the airliner drifted from its original planned route and flew through Soviet prohibited airspace. The Soviet Air Forces treated the unidentified aircraft as an intruding U.S. spy plane, and destroyed it with air-to-air missiles, after firing warning shots. The Korean airliner eventually crashed into the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Larry McDonald, a United States representative. The Soviet Union found the wreckage under the sea two weeks later on September 15 and found the flight recorders in October, but this information was kept secret by the Soviet authorities until 1992, after the country's collapse.
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Canadian Forces Base North Bay, also CFB North Bay, is an air force base located at the City of North Bay, Ontario about 350 km (220 mi) north of Toronto. The base is subordinate to 1 Canadian Air Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is the centre for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operations in Canada, under the Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters, also in Winnipeg. It is also home to the 1 Air Force, Detachment 2 of the United States Air Force.
On January 7, 1948, 25-year-old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died when he crashed his P-51 Mustang fighter plane near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying object (UFO). Mantell pursued the object in a steep climb and disregarded suggestions to level his altitude. At high altitude, he blacked out from a lack of oxygen; his plane went into a downward spiral and crashed. The incident was among the most publicized of early UFO reports. Later investigation by the United States Air Force's Project Blue Book indicated that Mantell died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which, in 1948, was a top-secret project that he would not have known about.
The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the Lockheed S-3 Viking. "Aurora" refers to the Roman goddess of dawn who flies across the sky each morning ahead of the sun. Aurora also refers to the Aurora Borealis, the "northern lights", that are prominent over northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.
Operation Sky Shield, properly Exercise Sky Shield, was a series of three large-scale military exercises conducted in the United States and Canada in 1960, 1961, and 1962 by NORAD Command and CONAD Command to test defenses against an air attack from the Soviet Union. The tests were intended to ensure that any attacks over the American–Canadian border or coastlines would be detected and then stopped.
This is a list of alleged UFO sightings in the United States.
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On 24 February 1996 a Cuban Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29UB shot down two unarmed Cessna 337 Skymaster aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organization opposed to the Cuban government. The Organisation of American States (OAS) reported that no warning was given; Cuban government sources said "These people knew what they were doing. They were warned", and that the aircraft had entered Cuban airspace. All the occupants of the aircraft were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. A third Cessna involved escaped. Previous similar flights had released propaganda leaflets over Cuba.
On June 20, 2019, Iran's integrated system of Air Defense Forces shot down a United States RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the U.S. differ on where the incident actually occurred. Iranian officials said that the drone violated their airspace, while U.S. officials responded that the drone was in international airspace.
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 occupants on board.
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On February 10, 2023, the United States Air Force shot down a high-altitude object that had entered U.S. airspace over Alaska a day before. The object was shot down onto the Beaufort Sea. The Department of Defense said it was the size of a small car and flying northeast at approximately 40,000 feet (12,000 m), posing a risk to civilian flight. On February 16, 2023, US President Joe Biden stated that the downed object was probably a civilian-owned balloon and "most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions".
On February 11, 2023, an octagonal unidentified flying object was detected over northern Montana. It disappeared until spotted the next day in Wisconsin, flying at 20,000 feet over the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The object was tracked by NORAD.
On February 12, 2023, an unidentified object was allegedly spotted by Chinese maritime authorities over the Yellow Sea, inside the territorial waters of China's Shandong province, nearest the coastal city of Rizhao, which is located within the Qingdao metropolitan area. China announced plans to shoot down the object but did not release further details on February 12 regarding the outcome of the planned operation.
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