An unidentified flying object was shot down in the skies
above Israel's Dimona nuclear plant, pictured here in 2004
Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli Air Force shot down an unidentified flying object over the Dimona nuclear plant in the Negev Desert Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The object appeared in a designated no-fly zone, the air force was scrambled and the object was shot down, the IDF said.
The object could have been a party balloon, the IDF said, but forces have not yet found the debris to determine what it was.
There have been unconfirmed media reports that it was a motor-driven object. The air force reacted according to procedure when the object was spotted, the IDF said.
The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported that last October "IDF warplanes intercepted an Israeli ultralight aircraft that accidentally flew into the area and forced it to land at an airstrip in southern Israel."
It also reported that "an Israeli surface-to-air missile downed a crippled Israeli fighter-bomber that strayed into the restricted zone" during the Six Day War in 1967. The craft's pilot was killed.
Drifting to Dimona, balloon prompts IAF scramble
IDF sources say unmanned object had an engine, was flying in closed airspace in Dead Sea area; army looking into incident.
Fearing an attack on the Dimona nuclear reactor, Israel Air Force fighter jets on Thursday afternoon shot down a large balloon that was hovering over the southern part of the Dead Sea and slowly moving toward restricted air space in the Dimona area.
For several hours, it was unclear whether the intruder had been a genuine threat or just hot air. But later on Thursday night, IAF sources indicated that the suspicious object might have been merely a weather balloon.
IAF radar stations had detected the flying object over the Dead Sea in the early afternoon and scrambled fighter jets to identify and intercept it, IDF sources said.
After determining that the balloon was unmanned and concerned that it might have been dispatched to gather intelligence on the reactor or might contain explosives, IAF commander Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan ordered it shot down.
Airspace over the Dimona reactor – where Israel has reportedly manufactured close to 200 nuclear weapons – is restricted and is well protected by the IAF as well as surface-toair missile systems.
In October, IAF jets intercepted an Israeli ultra-light aircraft that accidentally flew into the restricted area, and accompanied it to a nearby landing strip.
