This incident was reported to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) by an official which later prompted the Indian Air Force Eastern Command to spring into action.
As per Airport Director Chipemmi Keishing, the UFO sighting occurred within Imphal's controlled airspace, leading to the diversion of two flights and the delay of three departing flights. Normalisation of flight operations took approximately three hours, which was done after receiving clearance from the competent authority.
Imphal, situated in Manipur, one of the seven sister states in northeast India, shares domestic borders with Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam. Additionally, it shares an international border with Myanmar to its east.
The UFO, visible with the naked eye and reportedly moving westwards of the airfield, prompted the diversion of the Kolkata to Imphal Indigo Airlines flight, rerouted to Guwahati after a 25-minute holdup. The delayed flights experienced disruptions for at least three hours during the UFO sighting.
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In response to the incident, the Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed two Rafale fighter jets from a nearby air base to search for the UFO, equipped with advanced sensors for low-level flying over the suspected area. However, the search yielded no findings. The IAF Eastern Command activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport, however, the small object was not seen after the initial sighting.
