The Romanian Air Force warned Tuesday that its surveillance system has detected an unidentified object, presumably a balloon, flying 11,000 meters above Romanian airspace in the southeast of the country.
«Two Romanian Air Force MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of the Air Police Combat Service under NATO command took off from Air Base 86 in Fetesti at around 12.40 a.m. towards the area where the object was reported,» the Romanian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
However, the aircraft crews did not spot the suspected «weather» balloon and, after 30 minutes patrolling the area, returned to the air base. «The Romanian Air Force constantly monitors, in cooperation with allied forces, the national airspace and the nearby area,» it added.
This comes after several countries, such as Costa Rica, Colombia or the United States, have detected spy balloons of Chinese origin in their respective airspaces, which has strained relations with Beijing.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)