What the heck was flying over Canada?

The unidentified flying object shot down over Yukon this weekend will undoubtedly be one of the main topics of discussion between Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the two meet in Whitehorse for previously scheduled talks.

There have been four high-altitude objects shot down in North America in just over a week, the most recent in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron on Sunday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday Canada and the U.S. were co-operating and in constant communication about the situation, adding both countries and the North American Aerospace Defence Command are taking the situation very seriously.

Recovery efforts are underway to find and analyze all the objects, with Canadian military and RCMP recovery teams, aided by a CP-160 aircraft, searching the Yukon wilderness for the remnants of the object shot down Saturday over the central part of the territory, about 160 km from the Alaskan border.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said Saturday the Yukon object was "potentially similar" to the Chinese spy balloon destroyed Feb. 4, which was followed by the second mystery object shot down over Alaska on Friday.

Canadian and U.S. authorities have said little about the objects or their intended purpose beyond surveillance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2023.