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Unidentified dropping objects from sky manufactured by Russia: Vietnamese army

Xinhua, January 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Vietnamese army has said three unidentified objects that fell from the sky in the country's two northern provinces, Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai, were manufactured by Russia.

Deputy chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People' s Army Vo Van Tuan was quoted by local Vietnamnet online newspaper on Wednesday that the objects are made of metal and do not contain radioactive materials and are not dangerous to human. The objects' exteriors were burnt.

Initial investigation shows that they are not explosive materials but specialized compressed air tanks of some flying devices, perhaps a launch vehicle.

The objects were produced in Russia, but it is still not known if Russia owns the objects. It is possible that they were manufactured in Russia and then sold to other countries, Tuan was quoted as saying.

The Ministry of Defense will report the case to the Vietnam National Committee of Civil Aviation Security, which will then report it to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in order to notify countries with space research programs and activities to be more cautious in destroying used devices to maintain security of civil aviation as well as the safety of residential areas.

At about 7 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) on Saturday, residents in Bao Dap and Tan Dong communes in Yen Bai, some 120 km northeast of capital Hanoi, reportedly heard what sounded like thunder, despite there being no signs of rain.

They later found a strange round object with a diameter of about 40 cm lying on the ground in the garden of Tran Thi Loi in Hamlet 1.

Meanwhile, residents in Tan My commune in Tuyen Quang, a neighbouring province to the east of Yen Bai, some 100 km north of Hanoi, also heard three big explosion sounds around the same time on Saturday morning before discovering another strange round item in vacant land in Na Giang hamlet.

Tan My police said the sphere's surface was metal and had a diameter of nearly 100 cm.

The Ministry of Defense had seized the three objects and is continuing to investigate the owner of the objects. Endite