Balloon scare: Pakistan ploy to test Indian response

Alert at IGI after call, but nothing sighted

A helium-filled balloon that was shot down by an IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter over Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district Tuesday had flown in from Pakistan and was apparently an advertising balloon with “no payload”, though it may have been a ploy to test India’s operational preparedness, top government sources said Wednesday. In New Delhi, the authorities got a call Wednesday claiming another big balloon was hovering over the airport area, after which an alert was sounded at Indira Gandhi International Airport, but no sighting of such a balloon was confirmed, police officials said.

The balloon that was shot down over Rajasthan had a shiny surface and was reportedly of American make, with a diameter of three metres, and had “Happy Birthday” written on it. It was flying at a height of about 25,000 feet over Jaisalmer district when it was shot down by the IAF fighter jet that fired 97 rounds of ammunition at it. The IAF also deployed Mi-17 helicopters at that time. The defence ministry is taking up the matter with the external affairs ministry and it may be raised with Pakistan, top government sources said. The sources added that it may have been a ploy from across the border to test the Indian Air Force’s operational preparedness.

“Our radars picked up a shiny flying object entering our airspace. A fighter jet was quickly scrambled which intercepted it and shot it down. It had flown in from Pakistan,” the sources added.

The IAF said in a statement: “On January 26, Indian Air Force radar had picked up an unidentified flying object moving easterly in Jaisalmer area. An Indian Air Force fighter jet intercepted the object, which was found to be a balloon of about three meters’ diameter. Due to the heightened security alert, the balloon was shot down as it would have been carrying an unknown payload. However, on analysis of the debris, it was established that there was no dangerous payload.”

Some reports indicated that the balloon, made by a US firm based in Illinois, was flying at an altitude higher than that of an helicopter (18,000 feet) and hence, in order to leave nothing to chance, it was shot down.

In New Delhi, an alert was sounded on Wednesday at IGI airport after the authorities got a call claiming that a “big balloon” was hovering over the airport area. The police said the call centre of Delhi International Airport Ltd got a call that a big balloon had been spotted, after which the airport was put on alert. The police, however, said later that no such object was spotted by the authorities.

The Delhi police DCP in charge of IGI Airport, Mr D.K. Gupta, said all the security agencies were informed about the information, though the police had not spotted the object. “The airport was put on high alert after the DIAL call centre received a call about a big balloon spotted near the airport this evening. The call was received at around 5 pm and the caller said the big balloon was heading from the airport to Aya Nagar, after which an alert was issued at IGI and all security agencies informed about it,” Mr Gupta was quoted by news agencies as saying.