Ladakh border lights mistaken for intruders
- Date
- Aug 2012
- Place
- Thakung, near Pangong Tso, eastern Ladakh (Line of Actual Control), India
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Explained
- Evidence strength
What was reported
From August 2012 Indian Army and border-police units logged two bright objects rising over the Chinese side and apparently crossing the Line of Actual Control; by February 2013 they had recorded 329 sightings and counted 155 'violations', and the reports were treated as possible Chinese drones. At the army's request the Indian Institute of Astrophysics sent two astronomers early in 2013, who tracked the objects against the stars and identified them as Jupiter and Venus, their brightness heightened at altitude and their motion due to the Earth's rotation. Further Ladakh reports in 2013 received the same attention in the press.
What officials concluded
Resolved
Indian Institute of Astrophysics: the planets Jupiter and Venus
Strongest ordinary reading
Jupiter and Venus
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- Yes: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- The Register: Indian Army mistook planets for Chinese spy drones (26 July 2013)theregister.com
- Wikipedia: UFO sightings in Indiaen.wikipedia.org
On the map
33.80° N, 78.65° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map