

100%. Maybe the tower thought it was an ultralight because no radio contact/transponder and conveyed that to the pilots.
If you can see that it is a 172 it’s like mistaking an F150 for a Model T pickup. Not a mistake that would happen when you can clearly see it.
To save some googling for other people: Rayhunter is an initiative to identify when simulated cell towers are being used for surveillance.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet-rayhunter-new-open-source-tool-eff-detect-cellular-spying?language=en
I would be surprised if there are other devices for it. I think you’ll want to look at what network bands Verizon uses and see what that corresponds to in Canada. But I really don’t know.