Before you get excited over the headline, let me quickly say that the Israeli military is claiming to have shot down an Unidentified Flying Object, in this case, an unidentified engine-powered “balloon” is what they are saying:

Full Source: BBC

Israel says one of its fighter planes has shot down what appeared to be an unmanned balloon which had flown over a top-secret nuclear facility.

A military spokeswoman said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

Israel has designated airspace above the Dimona site in the southern Negev desert a no-fly zone.

In October last year an ultralight aircraft was forced to land after it accidentally flew over the area.

The spokeswoman said the fighter plane “shot down a suspicious flying object, probably a balloon”.

Israeli media said the balloon was unmanned but powered by an engine.

“It definitely flew over Dimona, although we are still trying to determine what that entailed and the military is now handling the matter,” another official said.

During the 1967 Mid-East war, an Israeli missile shot downed a crippled Israeli warplane that had strayed into the restricted zone, killing the pilot.

The Dimona facility is said to have produced nuclear weapons.

Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons under its policy of “ambiguity”.

The story does not end there though. The official Israel Defense Forces website posted a slightly different vague message. One that does not involve a description of an unmanned balloon:

Full source: IDF Website

The Israel Air Force intercepted a suspicious flying object hovering in a closed airspace above the southern Red Sea and endangering a Dimona plant. This is the IAF’s second interception in the air

An Israel Air Force fighter jet shot down a suspicious object flying near the southern Red Sea on Thursday (Dec. 16), after it was determined that the object posed a threat to buildings in the area including the nearby Dimona (southern Israel) plant.
Army Radio stated in a later report that only after the IAF’s southern air-control unit determined the flying object was in a closed airspace, was unmanned and had no reason to be hovering where it was the IAF shot it down.

At this time the object is being studied at the Air Force, the incident and possibility that intelligence was being gathered on the Dimona plant being investigated by the IDF. As a result of the incident, flight paths to Eilat have been restricted. It was reported that some commercial flights were held back and pilots already in the air were instructed to fly at lower altitudes than usual.

This is the first time since the Second Lebanon War in which the Air Force used air interception. In August of 2006, the Air Force intercepted a small, unmanned plane sent from Lebanon. The northern air-control unit of the Air Force identified the aircraft before it was able to cross the border and planes were sent to intercept it. The aircraft was intercepted at a low altitude above the water. Navy vessels collected its broken parts.

A year ago in another incident, a civilian Ultralight (made for one or two people) plane was blown in the direction of the Dimona plant as a result of strong wind. After the Air Force determined that the aircraft was getting closer to the restricted area, two fighter jets were sent to where it flew and made contact with the pilot. Ultimately, the plane landed in a landing strip in Arad (southern Israel).

Next, CNN’s lame reporting offers us a quick FOX News like attempt at covering the subject in a few seconds. CNN says that the Israeli military forces lost the object after it was shot down:

So apparently something was shot out of the Israeli sky by military jets. The object was said to have been near the Dimona nuclear site. A no-fly zone.

Could they have shot down a spy plane or military drone? Or is there more to this story. Could it have been an actual alien craft spying on Earth’s ‘nuclear race’ ?