What mystery object did IAF fighter aircraft shoot down in Rajasthan?

Jaipur, Jan 27: A probe has been launched following an incident in which a Sukhoi 30 Fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force shot down an unidentified object at Barmer district in Rajasthan.

Sources say that the probe is on to find out what exactly the object was, but it prima facie it appears to be a meteorological balloon.

What has been ascertained is that the object was not dangerous and contained no explosives. Even an official statement from the IAF confirmed that the object did not contain explosives. While it appears to be a meteorological balloon the investigators are checking exactly where it had come from.

On high alert

The IAF says that they could not take any chances. The object looked suspicious and hence had to be shot down. Moreover yesterday being Republic Day, the nation was on high alert.

Further there are enough and more intelligence bureau alerts that had been issued in the past couple of days warning of strikes on Republic Day.

IAF officials say that a detailed probe is on. In an official statement, the IAF had said that between 1030 and 1100 hours on Tuesday, an unidentified balloon shaped object was picked up by IAF radar. An IAF fighter was launched which intercepted the object and brought it down.

The incident took place in Barmer, nearly 500 km from Jaipur. There were loud sounds and the villagers had reported that metal pieces were falling from the sky. The IAF however clarified that it was just scrap from the spent shells that fell on some of the houses.

OneIndia News