Police in Canada collected wreckage after object shot down over Lake Huron

In this file photo, F-16s from the California Air National Guard fly in close formation as part of a training exercise on May 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Police in Canada collected debris after an unidentified object was shot down over Lake Huron in February 2023.

According to documents obtained through a freedom of information request to Canada's Department of National Defence, "wreckage" was found on "the shoreline of Lake Huron" just weeks after search efforts were officially suspended by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The new discovery was never made public.

"Following reports of unidentified aerial objects observed in the Great Lakes area and elsewhere in North America, multiple searches were conducted by the RCMP with the support of the Canadian Armed Forces," an RCMP spokesperson said in a brief statement to CTVNews.ca. "Debris has been recovered from the shores of Lake Huron but after careful analysis, it was determined not to be of national security concern."

Police collected 'material and a module'

The unidentified object was shot down by a U.S. F-16 fighter jet on the afternoon of Feb. 12, 2023, over Lake Huron, which separates Michigan and Ontario. It was the third and final unidentified object blasted out of North America's skies that month following the high-profile Feb. 4, 2023, downing of an apparent Chinese surveillance balloon.

At the time, the Lake Huron object was described as "octagonal" in structure with strings hanging off of it, and it reportedly "slowly descended" into Canadian waters after being hit by one of two missiles that were fired at it. Officials characterized it as a suspected balloon that did not pose a military threat, but could have interfered with domestic air traffic.

The RCMP oversaw a brief winter search that also involved both the American and Canadian coast guards. In a Feb. 16, 2023, statement, the RCMP announced search efforts were being suspended "due to several factors including deteriorating weather and the low probability of recovery."

According to partially redacted emails obtained by CTVNews.ca through the information request, the RCMP collected "both material and a module" when debris was discovered "along the shores of Lake Huron" in early March 2023, approximately three weeks after the object was shot down.

"The module is from a company who sells weather monitoring equipment," a senior RCMP member told a Canadian military brigadier-general in a March 13, 2023, email. "It will be analyzed to determine if there is anything unusual with it but I suspect not given the size. Whether or not it is from the shoot down is uncertain."

The RCMP would not answer specific questions from CTVNews.ca, including if the wreckage was ever positively linked to the Lake Huron object. Canada's Department of National Defence declined to comment. The U.S. Department of Defense did not respond to emailed questions.

"The RCMP confirms that debris was recovered from the shores of Lake Huron; and we continue to work in close collaboration with our domestic and international partners in furthering the investigation," an RCMP spokesperson said in a new statement Friday afternoon. "As the investigation is ongoing, additional details cannot be provided at this time."

What was the Lake Huron object?

The three unidentified objects shot down over Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron in February 2023 were reportedly much smaller than the towering Chinese balloon.

"We don't yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to China's spy balloon program, or they were surveillance vehicles from any other country," U.S. President Joe Biden said following the incidents. "The intelligence community's current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather or conducting other scientific research."

A "secret" Royal Canadian Air Force document obtained by CTVNews.ca suggests the Lake Huron object could have been a "weather balloon" launched from a U.S. National Weather Service radar station in Michigan.

Iain Boyd is a professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado Boulder. Boyd speculates that the continued lack of information on these cases could be because the U.S. and Canadian governments were embarrassed after shooting down objects that weren't really national security threats.

"To have expended significant military time and resources to shoot down benign objects does not look good, even though there may have been many factors we are still unaware of," Boyd told CTVNews.ca. "I am not surprised that the Canadian government did not share more information about the Lake Huron debris."

CTVNews.ca previously published the first confirmed image of the object shot down over the Yukon on Feb. 11, 2023, which was obtained through an access to information request. The RCMP also oversaw Yukon search efforts, which were called off without success on Feb. 18, 2023. The RCMP is Canada's federal police force.

In documents reviewed by CTVNews.ca, the three objects shot down over North America are frequently referred to as "UAP," which typically stands for "unidentified aerial phenomena." The term "UAP" has largely replaced "UFO" and "unidentified flying object" in official circles.

After decades of dismissal and denial by U.S. authorities, the Pentagon, NASA and American lawmakers have gone public about their efforts to investigate UAP. In Canada, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor's Sky Canada Project plans to release its own UAP report by the end of 2024, which will be the first known official Canadian UFO study in nearly 30 years.

With files from CNN and Reuters

Do you have an unusual document or observation to share? Email CTVNews.ca Writer Daniel Otis at [e-mail].