Ashish Ranjan
On Tuesday, people in Romania and the neighbouring country of Moldova reported seeing unidentified flying objects in the sky that resembled weather balloons.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, the country’s air force surveillance system discovered an unidentified flying objects that seemed to be a weather balloon when it was operating in Romanian airspace.
The Romanian Defense Ministry stated that two MiG 21 LanceR fighters were dispatched to the location in southeast Romania ten minutes after the sighting, however the jets were unable to confirm the presence of the item.
According to the information provided, the balloon was travelling at an altitude of 11,000 metres.According to the ministry of defence, the crews of the aircraft remained in the region for a total of thirty minutes before making their way back to base after failing to obtain visual or radar confirmation of the target.
After receiving a tip from the defence ministry that a small item like a weather balloon had been observed above the north of the nation, close to the border with Ukraine, the Moldovan civil aviation authority stated that it took action and investigated the situation.
It added in a statement that “given the weather conditions and the inability of viewing and identifying the object and its flight route,” the airspace had been closed since it was impossible to do any of those things.
One hour and 22 minutes after the closure was ordered, it was lifted because the authorities had determined that there was no longer any risk to the citizens’ safety.
The balloon sightings come amid a diplomatic feud between the United States and China, days after the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on February 4. On February 4, the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon.
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In the meantime, Russia has refuted the claim made by the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who has regularly voiced alarm regarding Russia’s intentions towards the former Soviet republic since since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The previous week, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stated that his country had unearthed a plot “for the annihilation of Moldova” that was developed by Russian intelligence.After a few days, the government of Moldova stepped down.
