Military jets scrambled as mystery balloons spotted above two European countries

Don’t miss a thing! Sign up to the Daily Star’s newsletter

We have more newsletters

Military jets were scrambled after two European countries spotted mysterious weather balloon-like objects in their skies today (Tuesday, February 14).

Romania's defence ministry said it deployed two NATO jets to seek an object it described as having "characteristics similar to a weather balloon".

It was detected at an altitude of about 36,000 feet at around midday.

READ MORE: China has 'high-altitude balloon programme linked to Army', US reveals

"The crews of the two aircraft did not confirm the presence of the aerial target, neither visually nor on the onboard radars," a ministry statement said.

At around the same time, neighbouring Moldova temporarily closed its air space after spotting a balloon-like object near its border with Ukraine.

Several flights were cancelled or diverted.

"Given the weather conditions and the impossibility of monitoring and identifying the object as well as its flight path… the decision was taken to temporarily close the airspace," Moldova's aviation authority said.

It is unclear whether the two incidents are related. They come after the US shot down at least four flying objects in recent days, one of which they identified as a Chinese surveillance balloon.

Neither Moldova or Romania said where they believed the objects had come from.

Both nations have been impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Ukrainian authorities saying last week that Russian missiles had entered both of their airspaces.

Yesterday (Monday, February 13) Moldova's president accused Russia of plotting to use foreign "saboteurs" to overthrow her government, given their plans to join the EU.

Moldova was granted EU candidate status in June last year – the same day Ukraine was – and has since been forging close ties with the West.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the claims as "absolutely unfounded and unsubstantiated".

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.

READ NEXT:

• Best five places on Earth to be if you want to survive a WW3 nuclear apocalypse

• Iraq war 'sparked rise in drug-resistant bacteria that could wipe out millions'

• 'Extremely sophisticated' UFOs 'may have been flying over US for years', says expert

• Military

Source: Read Full Article