A mysterious cylindrical object flying over Canada has been downed in a joint operation involving the U.S. and Canadian military.

Canadian president Justin Trudeau confirmed this in a tweet, saying the object violated Canadian air space and was shot down over the Yukon area in Northwest Canada. 

“I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over Yukon,” said Mr Trudeau. “Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object.”

He added, “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.”

Canadian defence minister Anita Anand described the object as “small” and “cylindrical “ and was flying over Yukon, Canada at about 40,000 ft. 

She told reporters that the mysterious object posed “a reasonable threat to civil aviation” and was shot down about 100 miles from the U.S. border. 

Mr Trudeau thanked the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for downing the unidentified object. 

According to the BBC, the White House said the decision to shoot down the object was recommended by the military of both countries. 

“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorised it to be taken down,” it said.

This is the latest development in a series of mysterious objects hovering over North American airspace in recent weeks.

On Friday, President Biden ordered the shooting down of an unidentified object flying over Alaska in the United States. Before then, Pentagon took down a Chinese balloon which hovered around its airspace from Canada. Beijing claimed the balloon only collects weather data and it only strayed into the American territory by mistake.