- NEW DELHI - A space scientist
claims to have come across an unidentified flying object (UFO) during a
scientific expedition in Himachal Pradesh.
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- Dr Anil V. Kulkarni of ISRO's Space Application Centre
saw the object on the morning of September 27 while leading the expedition
in the Samudra Tapu glacier region near Chandratal, about 14,000 feet above
sea level. Other members of the team also witnessed the unusual
object.
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- The sighting has been reported to authorities in
Kullu-Manali
and New Delhi and the Ahmedabad space centre is analysing the
photographs.
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- While Kulkarni says it was unlikely that the object was
a weather balloon (though it looked like one), a member of his team felt
the 'UFO' could be an espionage device.
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- "We saw a bright white object moving towards our
camp at about 7 am. It moved down the hilltop, towards the bottom. Eight
persons from our party moved towards it but the object kept moving towards
us. Then some porters made a noise and it started retreating in the same
direction without turning around. After a while it turned and started to
move towards the hilltop," said Kulkarni on his return from
Manali.
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- He said: "The background was rocky, so we could
see the white object very clearly. It was about 3 to 4 feet tall and
balloons
were attached to its head. One was red and the rest were white. It had
what looked like two legs and looked as if it was floating a few inches
above the ground."
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- Since it was early morning, there was mountain shadow
in the region. "The moment, it came in contact with solar radiation,
its colour changed to black. Then it took off vertically, and moved along
the ridge for about 3-4 minutes in the southern direction. Soon, after,
it its colour changed back to white and it moved towards our camp. It
remained
stationary overhead for 3-4 minutes and moved towards the northerly
direction
and disappeared," the scientist said.
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- Kulkarni rules out the possibility of the object being
an experimental balloon. "The object moved in a slanting direction
without touching the hill. It retreated the same way. It also changed
colour
and was moving in a direction different to that of the prevailing wind.
All this suggests that the object could not have been a weather
balloon."
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