UFO or Chinese lanterns: ISRO team to visit Leh to investigate
A
team of scientists from Indian Space Research Organisation will soon arrive in
Leh to further corroborate that the mysterious luminous objects seen on the
horizon over a lake in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir are actually
"Chinese lanterns". Official sources said on Sunday that after getting the preliminary
report that the luminous objects flying over the horizon of Pangong lake,
located 160 km from Leh township, could be Chinese lanterns, the security
agencies wanted an assessment of experts from another organisation for
confirmation. Therefore, it was decided to request ISRO to send a team of
scientists to examine the flying objects and give its report, the sources said.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had written to the Government in
October this year about sighting of some orange-yellow luminous flying objects
on the horizon over the Pangong lake. Besides, Leh-based 14-Corps was also
alerted by the ITBP which reported to its Udhampur-based Northern Command. After the incident, scientists from
various organisations in consultation with experts of the IAF, whose radars
were also unable to pick up any signal due to the flying of the unidentified
objects on the horizon of the lake, came to a conclusion that it was Chinese
lanterns. The proposal to shoot down one such flying object was turned down by
the Government as the region had last heard a gun shot only on October 29,
1962, during hostilities with China and such a move had the risk of increasing
tension. It was not clear as to when the scientists from ISRO would be arriving
to examine the flying objects, which are now visible again in the evening and
in the night. The last set was visible in the wee hours of the morning. Intelligence
agencies have opined that this could be a psychological operation of the
Chinese army and a possibility of launching "Chinese lanterns" during
day break and in night was looked into by various astronomers, scientists and
experts who have studied glaciers for years together, the sources said.
The history of lanterns being used in
battle ground dates back to third century when Zhuge Liang used this technique
to seek help from his friends in fighting the enemy. The lanterns or balloons
were deployed for signalling and a spy blimp. Zhuge Liang was a chancellor of
the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Experts
from Ladakh-based Indian Astronomical Observatory and other scientists then
studied the phenomenon of the luminous objects and found that they disappear in
12 to 18 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment