Following the information related sighting of an “unidentified flying object” (UFO) near Imphal airport in Manipur on Sunday, the Indian Air Force launched two Rafale fighter fighters.

Sources told India Today that they have launched Rafales aircraft from the Hasimara air base, but were unable to detect any objects.

After the first aircraft returned to the base, the second was sent out to re-evaluate the area, but it also did not find anything.

The Indian Air Force in its post on X, IAF activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport. “The small object was not seen thereafter,” it tweeted on Sunday.

“The UFO was visible with bare eyes moving westwards of the airfield till 4 pm,” a CISF official said.

The UFO object was spotted above Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, Manipur, halting flight operations for several hours.

One of the flights was diverted from Kolkata, which was initially told to “hold overhead.” After twenty-five minutes it was redirected to Guwahati.

After obtaining clearance, the delayed flights departed from Imphal airport around three hours later. The discovery was also communicated to the Indian Air Force Eastern Command located in Shillong.