A French Rafale fighter jet over France, January 14, 2020.
A French Rafale fighter jet over France, January 14, 2020. Reuters / Johanna Geron

KEY POINTS

  • The UFO was reportedly spotted over an airport in the city of Imphal in northeastern India
  • Flights were delayed and some were diverted to nearby states following the sighting
  • The fighter jets searched the suspected area but did not find any signs of the unidentified object

The Indian Air Force scrambled two fighter jets after an unidentified flying object (UFO) was reportedly spotted in the northeastern state of Manipur.

The purported UFO was spotted over the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in the city of Imphal, prompting an airspace closure Sunday. All civilian flight operations were brought to a halt for about three hours.

Three flights remained on the tarmac for hours and two incoming flights were diverted to neighboring states after civilians, airline staff and India's Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel spotted the white-colored object, reportedly visible from the terrace of the airport's air traffic control (ATC) tower.

The ATC was informed about the object at 2:30 p.m. local time (4:00 a.m. ET Sunday), according to local reports. The unidentified object flew over the airport building and made its way southward above the ATC tower. The object remained in the air until 5:35 a.m. ET before it disappeared.

"The UFO was visible with bare eyes moving westward of the airfield till 4 p.m.," said a CISF official.

"Soon after information about the UFO near the Imphal airport was received, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was scrambled to go and search for the UFO," local reports said, citing defense sources. "The aircraft, equipped with advanced sensors, carried out low-level flying over the suspected area to look for the UFO but it did not find anything there."

The first aircraft returned before another Rafale fighter aircraft was sent to search for signs of the UFO.

"The agencies concerned are trying to find out the details of the UFO as there are videos of the UFO over the Imphal airport," the sources added.

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Flight operations at the airport resumed at around 7:20 a.m. ET after receiving clearance from the Indian Air Force.

The Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force said it had activated its air defense response mechanism in response to "visual inputs" from the airport.

"IAF activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport. The small object was not seen thereafter," it tweeted.

India Space