MUMBAI: Even as questions over parachute-like objects, spotted in the air space over the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Santa Cruz, are yet to get convincing answers, authorities have floated two theories in a bid to shed light on the mystery.
While the Home Department said that the objects could be Chinese lanterns, the airport authority claimed that they might be balloons collecting weather data. The Air Traffic Control (ATS) at the airport had suspended operations of two Jet Airways flights on Saturday after it spotted five floating objects in the sky. Jet Airways flight 9W-326 from Ahmedabad was asked to defer landing at the last minute. Another flight 9W-323 to Ahmedabad was asked to hold its position at the airstrip.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi said the police investigation has revealed that the flying objects were not motorised. “They were flying from the Kalina side and were last seen near the ITC Maratha Hotel. The police are clueless on where they had land. The cops suspect that they were Chinese lanterns. We had put all the police stations on alert but the landing of the objects is still a mystery for us,” he said. The ITC Hotel is close to the airport. An official from the airport claimed that the floating objects could well be weather balloons from the nearby Santa Cruz unit of IMD.
“The objects travelled in a SouthWest direction due to the wind pattern. The flight path matches the location where the objects were found,” the official said.
IAF Fails to Solve UFO Mystery
New Delhi: Though the Indian Air Force (IAF) was asked to look into the matter, its preliminary investigation had failed to solve the mystery. “Preliminary investigations have discovered nothing as there was no hard evidence to suggest something,” an IAF official said here.