‘UFOs’ shot down over US, Canada confirmed to be balloons as debris recovery effort underway

The official said that each device could be described as a "small metallic balloon with a tethered payload." Speaking to George Stephanopoulos during ABC's This Week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said they were balloons and were "much smaller" than the first one.

The Daily Mail reports that Schumer had been briefed on the balloons on Saturday night by national security adviser Jake Sullivan who said recovery efforts are underway.

On Saturday, a US F-22 fighter jet shot down a "high-altitude airborne object" over Northern Canada. A little before 5 pm, Canada closed its airspace over parts of Yukon due to an "active air defense operation" and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the object to be shot down soon after.

"I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand 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 wrote on Twitter.

"I spoke with President Biden this afternoon. Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object. Thank you to NORAD for keeping the watch over North America," he added.

The New York Post reports that Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said the object appeared "to be a small, cylindrical object and smaller than the one that was downed off the coast of [South] Carolina."

On Friday, the United States military downed "a high altitude object" that had traveled into US airspace over Alaska. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby confirmed the downing at a news conference.

Last Sunday, a Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed a large portion of the continental United States was downed by an F-22 fighter jet in the Atlantic Ocean.

On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted a portion or airspace over Havre, Montana near the Canadian border and then lifted the restriction moments later at the request of the Department of Defense who had dispatched two F-15s to the area.

Fox News reports that the FAA told the outlet, "The FAA closed some airspace in Montana to support Department of Defense activities." A statement out of NORAD classified the incident over a radar blip and that there was no object found in Montana airspace.

On Sunday, the FAA briefly closed and reopened airspace over parts of Northern Michigan.