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| Not a UFO: Russian Topol-M Missile |
The object was seen by thousands in Israel, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. People in those countries called local authorities about the sighting. Was it a meteor, a Russian ballistic missile, or something else?
"Experts" disagreed initially, but it has now been confirmed that the object was a Russian missile.
Updated Information: The Russian Strategic Missile Forces were quickly announced that they had conducted a successful test of their Topol-M class intercontinental ballistic missile. The Topol is fired from mobile launchers (see a video about this, and more about the Topol series here).
A report by APA said that the missile was launched "from the firing ground at Kapustin Yar in Astrakhan, Russia." APA added that the missile's speed "wasn’t fast" and that its diameter was only 3-5 meters.
According to Russian military sources, the new version of the Topol-M series is codenamed "RS-12M" and is designed "to counter the anti-ballistic missile defense shield the U.S. is deploying in countries such as Poland," according to CBN News.
Russia's Pravda news service reported the same thing. "The unusual phenomenon in the sky above Israel, which hundreds took for a UFO," said Pravda, "could be connected with the test launch of Russia's intercontinental ballistic missile Topol. The missile was launched from Kapustin Yar test ground in Russia's Astrakhan region."
The Jerusalem Post reported that "hundreds" of people in the northern part of Israel "flooded police lines" to report what they saw. "The Israeli Astronomical Association," says the JP report, "said the object was 80 kilometers high and was not a meteor."
However, "experts" disagreed at first as to what the object was. Lebanese news services are calling the luminous object a meteor.
The official Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. (LBCI) said that “according to the scientific explanation, the phenomenon of the glowing objects resulted from large meteorites.”
An excerpt from the LBCI report:
"Appeared on Thursday evening, objects illuminated and meteors fireworks in the skies of the north and Marjayoun and different regions of the Bekaa also appeared in a number of areas of Jordan and in northern Iraq and the Syrian-Turkish border. The specialist in the science of space, Magdy Saad of the LBCI, that scientific explanation of the phenomenon of objects illuminated as stone meteorites of the size Great burst and leave the dust in the air. He stressed that no need to fear." (Google translation)
Offering some clarification in English, Naharnet.com reported that LBCI said: “glowing objects and fiery meteors appeared in the sky above the North, Marjeyuon and several Bekaa areas.”
The Lebanese reports could not have been more incorrect.
Naharnet also noted that state-run National News Agency "reported similar sightings in Akkar, Tripoli, the Bekaa, Byblos, Halat, Ashrafiyeh and Tyre, saying the objects were clearly visible."
Some of the witnesses theorize that it might have been a failed rocket launch. YnetNews.com (Israel) is wondering if the "UFO" was "a Russian ballistic missile."
Indeed, the Russians confirmed their missile launch right away.
"Later Thursday," reported Ynet, "Russian news agency Novosti quoted the Defense Ministry in Moscow, which confirmed that a missile was test-fired from the Astrakhan region in central Russia. The trail of light seen in Israel was also reported in Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries in the region." There you go. Proof once again that Lebanese "experts" don't know jack about meteors.
