An unidentified balloon-like object detected by the Indian Air Force was on Tuesday shot down by a fighter aircraft in Rajasthan's Barmer district, over 515 km from here."Between 10.30 - 11.00 a.m., unidentified balloon-shaped object was picked up on IAF radar, which was unidentified and was in our airspace. An IAF fighter was launched, which intercepted the object and brought it down. We have launched further investigations into it," a source in the IAF told IANS.
Meanwhile, panic gripped villages in the district after the loud explosion was heard in the afternoon.The villagers living in Gugri and Panawara villages claimed that the explosion was so loud that cracks developed in some of the houses in the villages."The explosion was loud... and we saw some objects falling from the sky... my house has developed cracks," said Manohar Singh, a resident of Gugri village.A police team was rushed to these villages, which found cone-shaped metallic objects."We are in touch with the IAF officials and are sending them the pieces for further analysis," a statement issued by Barmer police said.