Poland searches for unidentified object near Lublin after overnight radar signals

Search team deployed near Lublin

The morning of 18 October in Poland's Lublin Voivodeship began with an active search operation. Military personnel are searching for an unidentified object that is believed to have potentially violated national airspace overnight. The deployment of these measures was announced by the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.

According to military data, a ground search and rescue team, formed from the ranks of the Territorial Defence Forces, was sent in the southern direction from the city of Lublin. Police and military police representatives are also participating in the verification process.

Nature of the signal being established

The command emphasised that, at this stage, the fact of a violation of Polish airspace has not been confirmed. The primary objective of the verification is to establish the nature of the recorded radar signal and to clarify the circumstances of reports from local residents.

Military officials do not rule out the possibility that the recorded signal may have been the result of meteorological phenomena or anomalies.

Timeline of events and reaction from neighbouring countries

As reported by the RMF24 outlet, search operations are being conducted near the Zemborzyce Reservoir on the outskirts of Lublin. The first reports from citizens about an unidentified object in the sky arrived at 2:00 am.

At 6:30 am, the Polish Government Security Centre sent notifications to residents of the Lublin region about a Russian attack on Ukraine. However, just 20 minutes later, this alert was cancelled, citing the absence of a threat to Poland.

On the same morning, air raid alerts were also declared in Lithuania and Latvia. There was a need to scramble NATO fighter jets, and Kaunas Airport temporarily suspended operations. Later, the air raid alerts in these countries were also cancelled.