Romanian airspace has seen a suspicious object that looks like a weather balloon flying.
The defence ministry stated that the country’s air force sent two MiG 21 LanceR aircraft to the southeast ten minutes after it detected the object. However, they were unable confirm its presence.
After not receiving visual or radar confirmation of the target, the planes remained in the area for about 30 minutes before returning back to base.
According to the ministry, the balloon flew at 11,000m.
This comes amid increased tensions between China and the USA after Washington shot a suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier in the month.
Continue reading about spy balloons
White House: China’s balloon program is linked to the army
The US claims it has found key sensors that were lost from the object. It flew for around a week over the US and Canada, before President Joe Biden ordered its destruction off the South Carolina coast.
The sightings in Romania were made on the same day that Moldova (which borders Romania and Ukraine) temporarily closed its airspace for undisclosed security concerns – although the Romanian ministry didn’t link the two events.
US states that other objects could have been shot to ‘tied in some commercial or benign purpose’
The US military has now shot down three additional objects since the South Carolina incident. However, the White House said that there was no evidence they were parts of China’s spy program.
John Kirby, White House spokesperson, stated that no one has claimed the objects. The US intelligence community believes the objects could be “tied for some commercial or benign purpose”.
According to the White House, the objects’ altitude did not pose a danger to civil airspace.
One of the objects was taken down by sea ice near Deadhorse in Alaska. Another was brought down over Canada’s Yukon Territory. The third was taken down over Lake Huron.
The US military has yet to recover the debris from the three objects due to weather conditions that make it difficult for recovery operations.
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First missile strike missed
According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first missile US fired at the unidentified object above Lake Huron failed to hit its target and “landed innocuously” in the water. A second missile was launched successfully, he said.
General Mark Milley stated that the military went to great lengths to ensure civilian safety, including identifying the size of the likely debris field and the maximum effective range for the missiles.
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