'UFO' sighting in afternoon shuts Imphal airspace for 3 hours

Digital Desk: All flights at Bir Tikendrajit International Airport were suspended for almost three hours, and the airspace around Imphal was briefly closed. An unidentified flying object was observed over the airport on Sunday afternoon, prompting the IAF Eastern Command to activate an air defense system.

Taking to 'X', the IAF Eastern Command said, "IAF activated its Air Defence Response mechanism based on visual inputs from the Imphal airport. The small object was not seen thereafter."

The CIAF control room called Imphal Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 2:30 pm to report that an unidentified flying object (UFO) had been spotted flying over the terminal building, according to a statement released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). After that, the UFO headed south and stayed above the ATC for some time.

From there, it flew southwest of the airstrip, where it was visible until 4:05 PM, at which point it disappeared.

An official from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) stated that ATS officials, members of the public, local police, airline employees, and CISF personnel all saw the unidentified flying object (UFO) from the ATC terrace. It was a white thing that was seen without the need for any assistance. On the other hand, once night fell, it vanished.

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Eastern Command launched "Mission Red & Mission Blue" operations at 3:55 pm, according to the AAI, by deploying fighter aircraft in the Imphal airspace. The duration of this operation was 5:35 p.m.

It also stated that following IAF permission, regular airport flight operations began at 5:50 pm.