Tensions have been high in the disputed Himalayan border area between the two nations in recent years, with India frequently accusing its neighbour of making incursions onto its territory.
According to the Calcutta-based Telegraph, Indian troops had documented 329 sightings of unidentified objects over a lake in the border region between last August and February.
The newspaper quoted military sources as saying the objects violated the Line of Actual Control (LAC) 155 times.
The army called the Indian Institute of Astrophysics to identify the objects. "Our task was to determine whether these unidentified objects were celestial or terrestrial," astronomer Tushar Prabhu told the paper.
Only once the objects' movements were noted in relation to the stars were they identified as planets.
COMMENTS (107)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Thanks to Allah that they did not hacked/prisoned them....imagine the next biggest news alert from BBC....lolzzzzzz
It's funny,haha!!
Mars must have been doubtful after the reports of Venus being sighted with Jupiter over a lake. He is a hot head and dose not understand that their is difference between Military Intelligence and normal intelligence. Expect some fireworks in the sky.
@S!D: Well we took our matter to an international body just ONCE in 1947 and till now we are paying price for that action so, thanks for your advise but no thanks.
Guys: It is hilarious no doubt about it. I myself laughed for 2 minutes and still can't stop blushing. . But those who say Indians should be ashamed of it I think that shows their stupidity. And for their information, it happens with people who take precautionary actions seriously.
@Rafi Ka Deewana: There's a Huge difference btw Agreements and Dumbness, yet your army takes the lead.
Even Planet can't escape Indian army whereas real helicopters and drones aren't visible to Pakistani army!
who was watching them? Anupam Kher?
Instead of getting jingoistic or hurling nationalistic insults more akin to 14 year olds on Facebook, why not just laugh it off and move on? . PS @Indian, please do link these "latest reports" - according to HSBC 2050, China will have a GDP of 25 trillion US$ and India a GDP of only 8 trillion US$. I don't mind it if you're being honest, but this has nothing to do with 1971 or Abbottabad, friends. It's just very funny. Lighten up!
@Kaleem: As per the latest reports, India's poverty has declined to 22% where as Pakistan;s poverty rate has increased to 40%. Now all of you can laugh.
at least they did not blame it on ISI.
Incompetence is nothing new to this region. But imagine losing to an army like this 3 times in a row !! In the last major row, over 97,000 soldiers surrendered to the army that mistook planets for a drone. On the other hand, Pakistani army routinely mistakes drones for planets. Occasionally even helicopters for planets. I don't know which is worse. But let's call it a draw :-)
@Naveen: So basically they should keep reporting planets as drones!!!!
@To all Readers esp Anshuman: Presuming all you say is true (which it isn't) the French and other nations are sharing technology and trust in India. What is the standing of Pakistan in Space, Satellite, Oil & Gas, IT, Education, Human rights or even farming or anything related to intelligence or development in International community? No one even wants to touch you guys with even a barge pole. Time to introspect my dear. Stop sweeping things under the carpet. How does the saying go, Kabootar jey aakhan band kar lave taan billi gayab nahi ho jandi. Wake up Pakistan.
Atleast it is clear they were not sleeping and doing their duty. If Pakistanis were as punctual as Indians, incidents like Abottabad and US drones could have been avoided. But overall it appears that this news has little credence.
@Ahmed: Then why is Pakistan asking the US for drone technology
@AAA: @Milind: Atleast we know they were 'REAL' helicopters.
@Kaleem: You should be worrying the us drone attacks and taliban bombing on every day basics in Pakistan rather than the poverty rate in India and for your kind information as per latest reports, India's poverty level has declined to 22% where as Pakistan's poverty rate increased to above 40%. happy laughing.
@Burst thy bubble: bro source is bbc and not Indian media :-) again how they got this information do you really think any country will make such thing public :-) and how is Malala now :-)
oh they did shoot them couple times @Muhammad Bilal:
there is always sunny day
to all my Pakistani friends,
we cant deny you a good laugh there!
To all my compatriots,
We shouldn't deny ourselves also a good laugh too. But that said, i am glad for the lance naik, who is keeping out such a keen eye on everything coming and going.
@Anshuman Tripathy: Is it the same satellite which was found in pacific ocean. Lolzzzz
@Reader: But I get very true picture of Pakistan from Pakistan media e.g. tribune.pk or you think tribune is run by Indian agencies
@gp65: Great post as usual, completely agree with every word you say. I see absolutely nothing in the actual story to be ashamed of, nor anything funny.
Hahahahaha countless laughed man.
@Vlad Singh: No trust me , I live in Pakistan and we get tons of moments to laugh. What your media shows you what the picture of pakistan is, I don't know. But not every town and city is a desert filled with misery and overrun by the Taliban. Just giving you a heads up so next time you don't look incredibly stupid.
Please have a hearty laugh at our expense.. I know there is not much to cheer about in your country at present.
As an aside, I would gladly pick the army who mistakes planets for drones rather than the army which has inflicted pain and misery on the country..Cheers
@To all Readers esp Anshuman: Anshuman, your “indigenous” INSAT 3D satellite has a French engine, was launched using a French rocket…in, get this, FRENCH GUYANA, not even India. I think you should consult Merriam-Webster dictionary for meaning of “indigenous before misleading people.
I said indigenous "satellite". Not the engine, not the rocket , not the place. The satellite and all the components that go with it (thermal sensors etc) have been manufactured in India. true it's being escorted on a French Rocket, but that'll detach after crossing the upper atmosphere. As of now the satellite has already been placed on a geosynchronous orbit around the Earth.
Try using your brain once in a while, it might do you a lot of good. Or just flip that dictionary and check out what "indigenous" means.
ET, why aren't you publishing my comment. This is unfair. You are robbing me of the right to respond to the comment that was aimed at me.
@DLX Area 1: Oh another one. The more you indians try and defend it, the funner this gets. Focused on his job eh. Focused on a planet for six months, mistook for a drone, lol. Must be perpetually high, poor chap, hahahaha. Or may be just dumb. the latter sounds more plausible.
Folks(indians) this is the holy month of ramzan let our pak brothers have a lil fun at our expense. Guys(pak) love your funny comments keep tickling the funny bone. P. S. Let us all have a hearty laugh, we all will get a chance to indulge in india vs pak. Cheers.
@Debla: Yes, we salute the indian army too, for providing us such great entertainment in such difficult times. Lol. Took six months to differentiate between a planet and a chinese drone. Hahahaha. Amazing, you indians rock.
If you people take the trouble to read the original story from Telegraph, you would understand that these observations were made by a soldier who is untrained in astronomy. He is doing his job so meticulously that he noted a 4 minute delay of appearance of UFO in the sky each day which matches with planetary movement. This means he is not sleeping or wandering and is focused on his job. I am proud of this guy. Indians, no need for embarrassment or self-flagellation.
They should dare not look at their eastern border. No telescope can let you stare at the Sun.
Talk about being paranoid lol
Earlier Indians also thought that Veena Malik was a drone +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Only when she appeared au naturale was the reality discovered.....
@Ahmed: Right like u guys picked up 2 helicopters just 100 ft of the ground and 2 km from your military fotress!!! keep laughing. Ah blissful to remind u the utter failure of yr military. We are atleast trying to be prepared. Secondly the news is misleading: Indian army wasnt sure what it was, they just wanted to verify that. No shame in in that. Shame would b when a from far far away enemy enters into our land steels our most valued asset.
why indians always treat our chinese as enemy ?why not can we help each other?
Glad there did not shoot them down;might have been a dangerous solar crisis. On the other hand ,Pakistan army and PAF has been considering the drones as new planets discovered by the world-renowned astronomers of Pakistan Astronomical Association.
@darbulla
Seconded.
@Milind
Seconded
@ Kaleem
Of course yes. There is a lot of money to make when you will be selling weather forecast analysis to various commercial purposes. It will contribute national income and strengthen foundation of future projects. Now the question that if this money is going to be used for welfare of poor is a different subject. At least we are building resources towards it, the next step is to build political will.
@ Pakistanis In general, I am still glad, they were vigilant against a known threat & with the limited resources they have they never think of taking any event lightly. A Salute to the Indian Army.
In any case, what they did was way better than remaining asleep when your national asset(read OBL) is under attack or shirking army duties for building housing colonies or plaza or always thinking of ways to over throw the elected govt.
@It Is (still) Economy Stupid: And where the comments of all the off beat indians get published. Cuz no other newspaper will give you indians so much time. Now stop commenting and go out watch the skies. General Zod may be hovering above india to get superman from you back to krypton.
@To all Readers esp Anshuman: lol. Good one. Perhaps the indians have defined the term 'indigenous' lol
@darbullah: Of course we can. We may not be able to sight the moon easily. But when we do, we call it a moon not superman.
@Hashem (Kerala, India): Nice try... 'observed for six months mistaking them for chinese drones'... hahahha... i can so imagine indian soldiers discreetly holed up in a bunker with binoculars observing the skies for six months non stop thinking they have outwitted the chinese this time. Hahahaha. Man i cant get over this. Hillarious. lolol. And oh btw. Our army maybe helpless or incompetent. At least we're not dumb. Hahahaha
@Talha Zahid: "This one is as true as INDIA TV: Presence of water & sharks on moon as seen by Indian satellite. BBC: Indian satellite found floating in Arabian Sea by NASA. "
Chandrayaan-1 launched by ISRO (India's Space Agency) in 2008 did confirm presence of Water (though not the sharks) on Moon. It is a fact. Here are the relevant links from both domestic & foreign sources to substantiate this fact->
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/mip-detected-water-on-moon-way-back-in-june-isro-chairman/article24854.ece
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926393,00.html
As for Failed satellite launches, in all the 3 failures of last 20 years (one in 2006 and two in 2010), The debris of satellite & launch vehicle fell in Bay of Bengal and NOT Arabian Sea, as India's Satellite Launch Centre is located on the Eastern Sea Board along Bay of Bengal and those satellite failures occured within seconds of launch (as is the usual case). So, you may wish to recheck your 'BBC' and NASA source on that Arabian Sea part.
As for the failures themselves, all involved heavier version of Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle(the one that involves cumbersome cryogenic stage) which our chaps are yet to master and so failure was not entirely out of the blue. A success (particularly in 2010) would have heralded a new era in Programme, as it would have opened flood gates for India's self launched manned mission and heavier communication satellites. We'll try another one with Indigenous Cryogenic stage (the one which is yet to succeed) next month. I have my fingers crossed. Let's see what BBC and other foreign news agencies report on that.
Hindsight is always 20/20. I bet majority of people who are commenting here have not read the original report in the Telegraph. Those who have read it are shaking their head in disbelief about these silly comments people re making. ET reminds me of National Enquirer where all the off beat news about India is published.
@Anshuman Tripathy:
For your information,Pakistan has already made its own drones !!!
This is not the real report. Actually they thought Venus is a drone and Jupiter is an A380 and 645 chineese soldiers are coming to India in that passenger plane.
Pakistan army knows what a drone is as they have good experience seeing it violate their country's sovereignty.
@Adnan:
Oh India. How can we ever repay you for the countless moments of laughter you provide us?
The countless moment of the laughter which we have provided you would not even match the one moment of the laughter which you guys have provided to the world when Osama Bin Laden was hooked by the US SEAL right under the nose of your highly intelligent and talented army when your army I guess was busy sleeping.
And this is something which the world would cherish for their lifetime. As far as this news is concerned, no other newspapers in the world are paying any heed to it except yours.......
Indians should be more worried about little Indian pr!cks raping their women instead of worrying about Chinese drones
joke of the year.LOL:-D
Eye to Eye
I wonder how much ammunition was wasted trying to shoot down those planets?
Indians, just man up and admit this was a big boo boo by Indian Army. If you don't join in the laughter, you become part of the joke.
I don't know why ET doesn't publish this. . Anshuman, your "indigenous" INSAT 3D satellite has a French engine, was launched using a French rocket...in, get this, FRENCH GUYANA, not even India. I think you should consult Merriam-Webster dictionary for meaning of "indigenous before misleading people.
I think i saw an indian say this was a false report and there has been no such mention in the Indian Media, well here you go then:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23455128
We indians make a joke out of ourselves
@Pakistani: Better to be skeptical than to be sorry later. Seems you forget what happened in Abbotabad
Another fake story by ET.
@Mast Malang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SundarPichai Following is from my college only http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NikeshArora & the list goes on.
Good work. Highest degree of caution is needed in border areas. Better to mistake planets for UAVs than mistaking UAVs for planets or miss them altogether.
A Chinese military official responded to the accusation:" You can shoot it down if you want to." I think the Chinese knew what they are. lol
I think india should take the issue of planets violating its airspace in International Justice courts and capture some pakistanis related to the incident :-D
Oh my Gosh oh my Gosh SIX MONTHS.... Area commander shud contest for 'Bhooli Naari' award.
i wonder if indian army had attacked those 'drones' then we must had lost two plaents of our solar system.
@Rohit950723: it is reported in international media, have a look and then say lolllllllllllllllx to your intelligent army
@Anshuman Tripathy:
Times of India : indigenous Weather Satellite launched by India have reported images of water, whales and sharks on Mars..
BBC: indigenous Weather Satellite launched by India is found in Arabian Sea
Jupiter n venus: Please dont shoot me...
Sorry, no comments. ET allows Indians to make fun of Pakistan but vice versa is not allowed i.e. official ET policy. :->
@Mr T: We Pakistanis may have the habit of shooting ourselves in the foot So this amounts to less than being dumb ? Even in U.S.A sometimes weather balloons are taken as U.F.O . Anyway good to see Pakistani friends laughing , don't get much chances to laugh in such disturbing times in Pakistan .
@Rohit950723: This one is as true as INDIA TV: Presence of water & sharks on moon as seen by Indian satellite. BBC: Indian satellite found floating in Arabian Sea by NASA. Lol
@Rohit950723, Haha dude here it is. Was first reported by Indian Telegraph (based in Calcutta), picked and re-reported by BBC and then everywhere.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130724/jsp/frontpage/story_17150854.jsp#.UfJWeo2qDId http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23455128 http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2013/newsDetails260713g.php
Lol there is no running from this.
@Kaleem
No...But what is your issue ? Are you going to feed us ? Are you going to educate us ? No...
Still better than caught sleeping, while our ally launches a raid next door and takes out a fugitive.
wahahahah..6months buhahahahahaha..SIX MONTHS hahahahaha...OMG hahahahaha
@Sonya: You should be ashamed of your army ridiculousness. And stop blaming others that's what you people always do.
@Tony Singh: The Indian Army wins hands down. They spent six months monitoring these 'Chinese spy drones'.....six months!!! hahahahaahahaaa
In 2010, Indian security forces detained a pigeon under armed guard after it was caught on an alleged spying mission but this one certainly takes the cake. The Indian Army played this dangerous game of death for the whole six months deserve special acknowledgement for providing us with such boisterous merriment.
awkward
A country that can't decide when a moon got sighted can't laugh at anyone.
This is a fake report::Indian army mistook planets for Chinese spy drones: Report.. I can't accept it & has not been reported anywhere in the Indian media. We Indians are dominating scientific research & technology all across the world.
@Human: poor in taste. I congrats ISRO for outstanding efforts. ISRO always rocks.
@Tony Singh: Take Drones as planets or, planets as drones, its ridiculously shameful.
@Anshuman Tripathy: Will that "indigenous Weather Satellite" bring food for more than 40 crore living below poverty lines in India? Just wondering. I hope its purpose is to monitor how many crores are still deprived of as basic facility as tiolet ;)
@Anshuman Tripathy: Say whatever you want buddy - there's really no respite from this. Planets for drones hahaha
@Anshuman Tripathy: And in another news india's 'indigenous weather satellite INSAT 3D' mistakes rain drops for incoming inter continental cruise missiles.
@Anshuman Tripathy: Relax man. You can accept your mistake. We Pakistanis may have the habit of shooting ourselves in the foot. We may be cunning, mean and self defeating. But at least we're not dumb. Hahahahahaha. Hillarious.
@Anshuman Tripathy: but seriously planets for drones?? wonder what you launched your "satellites" off to!
Shining India, more like Blimey India. What a joke of an army.
In other news India successfully launched its indigenous Weather Satellite INSAT 3D into space while Pakistan is the begging the United states for the blue prints of the drone, its national bird.
All armies are alike.
No but they were hallucinating, that's for sure!
Professionalism at its best :D
@Adnan:
nice one...
UFO now in India :P
Indian obsession with China should end. India should be vigilant but not obsessive.
This sounds so ridiculous.
Thanks God, they did not try to shoot them. LOL
We are a superpower :D
Thank God they were not sleeping.
Oh India. How can we ever repay you for the countless moments of laughter you provide us?
This is utterly ridiculous!!! Even an amateur astronomer with naked eye can point out planets!!
Trolls welcome. Don't forget to share on Facebook
lol. :D