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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a US fighter jet shot down an "unidentified object" flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the US took similar action over Alaska.

North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined US-Canada organisation that provides shared defence of airspace over the two nations, detected the object flying at a high altitude on Friday evening over Alaska, US officials said.

It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday.

Trudeau spoke with President Joe Biden, who also ordered the object to be shot down.

Canadian and US jets operating as part of NORAD were scrambled and it was a US jet that shot down the object.

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand told a news conference in Ottawa that the object, flying at around 40,000 feet (13,000 metres), was shot down approximately 160 kilometres from the Canada-US border in the central Yukon.

A recovery operation was underway involving the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP.

Hours later, in the US, the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday night it had closed some airspace in Montana to support Defense Department activities.

NORAD later said the closure, which lasted a little more than an hour, came after it had detected "a radar anomaly" and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. The aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits, NORAD said.

F-22 fighter jets have now taken out three objects in the airspace above the US and Canada over seven days, a stunning development that is raising questions on just what, exactly, is hovering overhead and who has sent them.

At least one of the objects downed was believed to be a spy balloon from China, but the other two had not yet been publicly identified.

While Trudeau described the object Saturday as "unidentified," a NORAD spokesman, Major Olivier Gallant, said the military had determined what it was but would not reveal details.

Trudeau said Canadian forces would recover the wreckage for study. The Yukon is westernmost Canadian territory and the among the least populated part of Canada.

Just about a day earlier, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said an object roughly the size of a small car was shot out of the skies above remote Alaska.

Officials couldn't say if it contained any surveillance equipment, where it came from or what purpose it had.

Kirby said it was shot down because it was flying at about 40,000 feet and posed a "reasonable threat" to the safety of civilian flights, not because of any knowledge that it was engaged in surveillance.

According to US Northern Command, recovery operations continued on Saturday on sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska.

In a statement, the Northern Command said there were no new details on what the object was. It said the Alaska Command and the Alaska National Guard, along with the FBI and local law enforcement, were conducting search and recovery.

"Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety," the statement said.

On February 4, US officials shot down a large white balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

The balloon was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for "several years," the Pentagon has said.

The US has said Chinese balloons have flown over dozens of countries across five continents in recent years, and it learned more about the balloon program after closely monitoring the one shot down near South Carolina.

China responded that it reserved the right to "take further actions" and criticised the US for "an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice."

The Navy continued survey and recovery activities on the ocean floor off South Carolina, and the Coast Guard was providing security.

Additional debris was pulled out on Friday, and additional operations will continue as weather permits, Northern Command said.

© AP 2023

A US F-22 fighter jet shot has down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada, the second such shootdown in as many days.

North America is on heightened alert following a week-long Chinese spying balloon saga that drew the global spotlight.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the shootdown over the Yukon territory in the country's north and said Canadian forces would recover and analyse the wreckage.

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.

She stopped short of describing it as a balloon but said it was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina's coast a week ago, but similar in appearance.

She said it was flying at 40,000 feet (about 12km) and posed a risk to civilian air traffic when it was shot down .

"There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern," Anand told a news conference.

The Pentagon said the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected the object over Alaska late on Friday evening.

US fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation.

"A US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory using an AIM 9X missile following close coordination between US and Canadian authorities," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden authorised the US military to work with Canada to take down the high-altitude craft after a call between Biden and Trudeau, the Pentagon said.

The White House said Biden and Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to "defend our airspace".

"The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin," the White House said in a statement.

A day earlier, Biden ordered another shootdown of an unidentified flying object near Deadhorse, Alaska.

The US military on Saturday remained tight-lipped about what, if anything, it had learned as recovery efforts were underway on the Alaskan sea ice.

The Pentagon on Friday offered only a few details, including that the object was the size of a small car, it was flying at about 40,000 feet and could not manoeuvre and appeared to be unmanned.

US officials have been trying to learn about the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.

"We have no further details at this time about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin," Northern Command said on Saturday.

It noted difficult arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight that can hinder search and recovery efforts.

"Personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety," Northern Command said.

On February 4, a US F-22 fighter jet brought down what the US government called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina following its week-long journey across the United States and portions of Canada.

China's government has said it was a civilian research vessel.

Some US politicians criticised Biden for not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner.

The US military had recommended waiting until it was over the ocean out of fear of injuries from falling debris.

US personnel have been scouring the ocean to recover debris and the undercarriage of electronic gadgetry since the shootdown of the 60-metre-high Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.

The Pentagon has said a significant amount of the balloon had already been recovered or located, suggesting American officials may soon have more information about any Chinese espionage capabilities aboard the vessel.

© AP 2023

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says it's important for a woman to be the party's candidate at the upcoming by-election in Melbourne following Alan Tudge's decision to quit.

Mr Tudge announced his resignation from federal parliament on Thursday, citing health and family reasons after reporting death threats were made against his teenage daughters.

The announcement has triggered a by-election in Aston, less than a year after the Liberal MP narrowly held on to the outer Melbourne seat at the 2022 poll.

Ms Ley said she had been calling for more women in parliament for "many, many years".

"We won't reach parity if we don't appoint a woman when a man retires," she told Sky News.

"So I look forward to a woman candidate in Aston. That decision is, of course, one for the Victorian Liberal Party and they will have a great choice to make and I know they will select an outstanding candidate."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has announced new shadow ministerial appointments.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr Dutton said Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson would move from the communications portfolio to become the coalition's education spokeswoman.

Former minister David Coleman will return to the frontbench as communications spokesman.

"These new appointments will strengthen the coalition's representation in critical portfolio areas," Mr Dutton said.

"I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Henderson and Mr Coleman as they carry out their new roles."

Mr Dutton thanked Mr Tudge for his service to the coalition since his election in 2010.

"He departs the parliament with the coalition's best wishes for his future endeavours," he said.

Mr Dutton has described his party as the underdogs ahead of the by-election, as Mr Tudge held onto his seat by just 2.8 per cent, having suffered a more than seven per cent swing against him at the 2022 election.

Labor Minister Jason Clare said it was "pretty ridiculous" the Liberal party was painting itself as the "underdogs" when no government had won a seat off the opposition in 100 years.

"If the Libs are the underdogs in this election, then they've got more problems than a by-election," he said.

© AAP 2023