India Spotted 'Balloon-Type' Mystery Object Over Andaman And Nicobar Islands In 2022: Report
A report says that an unidentified flying object was spotted over the Andaman and Nicobar islands in India last year.
New Delhi: The recent faceoff between the United States and China over an alleged ‘spy’ balloon has certainly raised an alarm over the issue of safe air space across the globe. The US shot down several balloon-like objects hovering in its sky in early Feb. However, it said barring the first one, none had any security risk. This first balloon that the US downed reportedly had some equipment that China claimed to be for weather monitoring purposes.
Now, days after these developments, Bloomberg has reported that something similar happened in India last year. As per the report, locals on Andaman and Nicobar Islands had witnessed a high-altitude flying object over the islands in 2022. The report says that locals spotted an unusual object in the sky: a giant balloon similar to the one the US downed earlier this month.
The report claims that hundreds of people on the islands ventured outside and snapped photos of the unusual flying object that sent an alarm to India’s defense establishment.
As per the report, the islands are close to India’s missile testing areas in the Bay of Bengal and sit near the Malacca Strait, a key bottleneck for supplies of energy and other goods to China and other North Asian nations.
Bloomberg reported citing officials that in the aftermath of the US shooting down a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, Indian officials are revisiting the incident while developing protocols to improve their ability to detect similar threats and respond more quickly in the future.
Unlike the US, India favors cheaper options such as fighter jets or heavy machine guns attached to transporter aircraft, the officials added, quoted Bloomberg.
The object had appeared suddenly over the island chain, slipping past numerous Indian radar systems on the way, multiple officials with knowledge of the matter said this week, as per Bloomberg.
The report added citing officials that before authorities could determine the balloon’s origin and reach a decision on whether to bring it down, the object drifted southwest into the ocean.
Bloomberg added that the Indian officials were reluctant to speculate on the origin of the balloon.
Representatives of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the navy and the air force didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment, the report mentioned.
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