It's a grainy, blurry, black-and-white image so low in quality it could be anything you like. But what it is is a scan of a photocopy of a printout of an email containing a photo, released in the spirit of malicious compliance as the state's response to a Freedom of Information Act request in Canada. Unlike most such mystery objects, this one was shot down, whatever it was, and the authorities hope that by releasing an intriguingly low-resolution copy that makes it look as much like a glowing invasion flagship as possible, people will lose interest in knowing more.
Heavily redacted documents show how the image was approved for public distribution within days of the headline-grabbing incident, but then held back after a public affairs official expressed concerns that releasing it "may create more questions/confusion." CTVNews.ca has requested a higher resolution copy.
It's possibly a Chinese surveillance balloon—or perhaps something that would be embarassing to admit was suspected to be a Chinese surveillance balloon, like a weather balloon.
A U.S. F-22 fighter jet shot down the object on Feb. 11, 2023, shortly after it entered Canadian airspace in the Yukon territory, which borders Alaska. It was one of three unidentified aerial objects(opens in a new tab) blasted out of the sky that month following the high-profile Feb. 4, 2023 downing of an apparent Chinese surveillance balloon(opens in a new tab). Shot down over Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron between Feb. 10 and 12, 2023, the three objects were reportedly much smaller than the towering Chinese balloon.
The suggestion seems to be that you're looking at it close to sunset from directly below, and it's so high up that the underside is catching the sun and is is being shadowed by its own dangling payload.
Be sure to read the surrounding documentation to enjoy the effortless, Coenesque stupidity of all the officials involved.
