Why a U.S. Plane Shot Down an Object Over Canada

In a move that may have confused Americans and Canadians alike, the second of the three unidentified flying objects shot down in the past few days was downed over Canada, on the orders of the Canadian prime minister — by a United States F-22.

The questions came quickly: How could Canada issue an order to an American fighter pilot? How could the U.S. conduct an operation in Canadian territory?

The answer is simple. The F-22 and the pilot were part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, a defense organization operated jointly by the United States and Canada.

NORAD’s stated purpose is to “prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted, and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America.”

It is led by a commander — currently Gen. Glen D. VanHerck — who reports to both the U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister.

Either of those leaders has the authority to issue an order, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did on Saturday. They are often in communication with each other as they do so, and this operation was no exception.

President Biden was informed of and supported the takedown of the object over the Yukon, a northwestern territory of Canada. Afterward, according to the White House, he and Mr. Trudeau “discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin.”

The object was shot down on Saturday, one day after the U.S. military downed another object off the coast of Alaska. A day later, on Sunday, it shot down a third over Lake Huron. The three incidents came about a week after the downing of a Chinese spy balloon in the waters off South Carolina.