The Indian Air Force (IAF) responded swiftly to reports of an unidentified flying object (UFO) near the Imphal airport on Sunday. In order to investigate the sighting, the IAF deployed its Rafale fighter aircraft.
The UFO was spotted over the Imphal airport at around 2:30 pm, causing some disruption to commercial flights. “As soon as we received information about the UFO near the Imphal airport, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was scrambled to search for it,” said defense sources.
Equipped with advanced sensors, the Rafale aircraft conducted low-level flying over the suspected area, but failed to locate the UFO. Despite the lack of findings, another Rafale fighter was dispatched for further search efforts. However, the UFO was not spotted in the area.
Authorities are now working to gather more information about the UFO, as there are videos of the object recorded over the Imphal airport. Once the airport was deemed safe for operations, the Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force, based in Shillong, announced that it had activated its Air Defence response mechanism. However, no specific details about the measures taken were provided.
The Rafale fighters have recently participated in the extensive Air Force exercise, Poorvi Akash, along the China border. This exercise involved the participation of all major assets of the Indian Air Force, as well as troops from the Army.
(Note: This article has been published as it is from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by NDTV staff, except for the headline.)
