WASHINGTON, February 12. /TASS/. An unidentified object, shot down in the Canadian airspace on Saturday, was initially detected above Alaska and has since been monitored by the US and Canadian military, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

"NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command] detected the object over Alaska late Friday evening. Two F-22 aircraft <…> monitored the object over US airspace <…>, tracking it closely and taking time to characterize the nature of the object," the spokesman said in a statement. "Monitoring continued today [on Saturday] as the object crossed into Canadian airspace."

Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the monitoring when the object entered the airspace of Canada. Later, the object was shot down by an AIM 9X missile, fired by an F-22 fighter jet.

According to Ryder, the mission was conducted in close coordination between the United States and Canada. US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and subsequently instructed US air crews "to work with Canada to take down" the object above Canada later on Saturday.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also talked by phone with Canadian Minister of Defence Anita Anand.

"As Canadian authorities conduct recovery operations to help our countries learn more about the object, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be working closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," the Pentagon spokesman said.