Residents of annexed Crimea confuse aerial bombs with UFOs
The majority of the anomalies observed in annexed Crimea are the result of military exercises, Dr. Anton Anfalov, an expert on anomalous objects, told the Russian radio station Sputnik in Crimea.
“In August this year in Kerch and Feodosia, strange fires were observed in the sky. The mass media immediately released stories about visits by aliens. But in actual fact these were luminous or illuminating aerial bombs,” he explained.
He noted that such devices are a container with a flammable substance that emits light. They descend slowly on parachutes, which from a distance can create the illusion that they are hanging in the air.
“They are ordinary targets for pilots, and especially for missiles with heat sensors. The military uses them extremely often,” Anfalov explained. He said that real “anomalous objects” typically accelerate very quickly and are hard to document.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has been conducting regular military exercises on the peninsula. The General Staff of Ukraine considers Russia’s military activity there illegal.
A UN General Assembly resolution adopted on December 17, 2018, in connection with the militarization of Crimea and the Black and Azov seas calls on Russia to withdraw its troops from Crimea and condemns Russia’s growing military presence in the Black and Azov seas.
In February 2014, armed people in uniforms without insignias appeared in Crimea and captured the Supreme Council of Crimea, the Simferopol Airport, the Kerch ferry crossing and other strategic objects, and prevented the Ukrainian army from taking action. Initially, the Russian government refused to acknowledge that these armed people were Russian soldiers, but President Vladimir Putin later admitted it.
On 16 March 2014, a referendum on the status of Crimea was held in Crimea and Sevastopol, in which the inhabitants supposedly voted for the peninsula to become part of Russia. The outcome of the so-called referendum is not recognized by Ukraine, the EU or the US. On 18 March, Putin announced the “annexation” of Crimea to Russia.
International organizations have declared the occupation and annexation illegal and condemned Russia’s actions. Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia in connection with the annexation. Russia claims to have “restored historical justice”. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, declared 20 February 2014 the start of Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol.