NORAD conducting planned defense exercise off B.C. and Washington State coast

If you are near the coast of B.C. and Washington State Wednesday you may see or hear some aircraft.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is conducting a planned air defense exercise involving American and Canadian aircraft.

In a statement, NORAD said this exercise will include fighter aircraft operating at a high altitude.

“This exercise is in no way related to recent NORAD and U.S. Northern Command operations associated with airborne objects over North America during the last two weeks,” the organization said.

NORAD will routinely conduct air defence exercises to be able to respond effectively to scenarios such as airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.

A number of objects in American airspace have been shot down recently, starting with a giant white orb first detected in late January.

1:06 U.S. shoots down another flying object over Lake Huron near Canadian border

“Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” the U.S. military’s Northern Command said in a statement.

— With files from Reuters