A U.S. fighter jet shot down an unidentified object in Canadian airspace over the Yukon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. This is the third such incident in North America since early February.

He said he had discussed the incident with U.S. President Joe Biden. The military will now search for the wreckage for further examination, Trudeau said.

The downed object was originally found in the skies over Alaska, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said later.

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said at a briefing Saturday that the object was flying at an altitude of about 12 kilometres and posed a threat to civilian flight safety. It was small and cylindrical in shape, she said.

Two days ago another unidentified flying object the size of a small car was shot down over Alaska. About its possible origin and functions after that it was not officially reported.

A week earlier, the US military shot down a Chinese hot air balloon in the skies over the South Carolina coast, which authorities said was part of a Chinese spy program. Beijing denied the allegations, claiming it was a weather balloon that went astray, according to the BBC Russian Service.