OTTAWA – Defence Minister Anita Anand says it’s too early to tell whether a “cylindrical object” shot down over central Yukon on Saturday was from China – even as she hinted about it being another Chinese spy balloon.

The remains of the object are somewhere in rugged terrain between Mayo and Dawson City.

The search continued today, and may prove to be a prolonged exercise, especially if fresh snow partially obscures the site.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Rangers have not been asked to participate in the search, the Star has learned. The RCMP are taking part.

Anand’s comments came during a hastily arranged news conference Saturday, as Canadian Armed Forces personnel worked to recover wreckage of the object after it was destroyed by an American fighter jet hours earlier.

“From all indications, this object is potentially similar to the one that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, though smaller in size and cylindrical in nature,” Anand said in reference to the Chinese spy balloon destroyed on Feb. 4.

“That is the information that we are working with right now. But with further analysis, we will know more and be able to provide you with more details and a follow-up.”

Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre referred to the object as a “balloon” during the same news conference.

The object was first detected over Alaska late Friday evening, according to the Pentagon, at which point two U.S. F-22 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept, identify and track it.

That monitoring continued as it crossed into Yukon airspace on Saturday.

The North American Aerospace Defence Command publicly revealed its presence over northern Canada on Saturday afternoon.

A short time later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Twitter that he had ordered it taken down.

“I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” he wrote.

“(Norad) shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object.” Trudeau added that he had been in touch with U.S. President Joe Biden, and the Canadian Armed Forces were in the process of recovering and analyzing the wreckage.

A summary of the conversation between Biden and Trudeau released by the White House said the two leaders authorized the object be shot down “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries.”

Trudeau said it was a “reasonable threat to civilian aircraft.” He said he’d since spoken with U.S. President Joe Biden about the incident and how to maintain the sovereignty of North American airspace.

At a news conference held in Whitehorse this morning, the prime minister said the situation makes Biden’s visit to Ottawa next month even more urgent.

“This is a very serious situation that we are taking very seriously,” Trudeau said, adding Canada is determined to protect North American airspace and the nation’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Anand said the object was flying at 40,000 feet, or about 12,000 metres, and shot down at 3:41 p.m. EST about 160 kilometres from the border with Alaska.

She added it entered Canadian airspace illegally and posed a threat to the safety of civilian flights.

The object’s appearance over central Yukon came as Trudeau – by coincidence – was preparing to attend a fundraiser in Whitehorse on Sunday evening.

“Frankly, we were concerned with getting it out of the sky,” she said.

“And that was our focus all day, and indeed in the past 24 hours. And so any further information will come with the analysis that we are doing regarding the debris.”

Premier Ranj Pillai in a statement said he had been briefed by federal ministers about the object, and reassured residents that “at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk.

“After this day’s events, our government has been in contact with the federal government and we are tracking events as they unfold,” he said Friday.

“This past week, I met with federal representatives to discuss Arctic security, recognizing the challenges our country and territory will face in the years ahead.

“We will continue to track events and ensure Yukoners are kept informed,” the premier said.

Anand said while an American fighter jet shot down the object, two CF-18s were also heavily involved through much of its sojourn on Friday night and Saturday.

All four fighter jets were working for Norad, she added, which is a shared Canadian-American command.

“When we first started tracking this object, it was dark and we needed to make sure that we had a visual of it and so needed to wait for daylight to emerge,” she said.

“Secondly, we needed to make sure that there was infrared or missile-lock capability, and that was something that both the F-22s and the CF-18 pilots were working on together. So as I said, it was a Norad mission.”

The object is the third known to have violated North American airspace in the past two weeks, but the first whose presence has been revealed while it was flying over Canada.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon had re-entered the U.S. after flying over Alaska and parts of western Canada two weeks ago before it was publicly identified on Feb. 1.

The federal Liberal government has come under fire from opposition parties and others for not providing more information about the Chinese balloon’s time over Canada.

Members of the House of Commons defence committee voted Friday to hold hearings on the issue, which would allow for testimony from Anand and military officials.

A second object was shot down after flying into Alaskan airspace on Friday. U.S. officials have not provided any details on what it was, except to say it differed from the Chinese balloon.

The object was downed because it reportedly posed a threat to the safety of civilian flights rather than due to any knowledge that it was engaged in surveillance.

But the twin incidents in such close succession reflect heightened concerns over China’s surveillance program and public pressure on Biden to take a tough stand against it.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon thanked those “who tracked and shot down the unidentified object over the Yukon on Saturday.

“This is a reminder that there are those in our armed forces and our friends with the North American Aerospace Defense Command who are standing on guard and protecting Yukoners and Canadians at all times,” Dixon said.

“With this incident, and Friday’s incident involving our Alaskan neighbours, this reaffirms the need to modernize our North Warning System, and for a fully built-out Canadian Armed Forces base in the Yukon,” he added.

“The topic of Arctic sovereignty has faded away on the national scale in recent years, and these two incidents should serve as a wake-up call.”

– With files from the Star and The Associated Press

By LEE BERTHIAUME
The Canadian Press