Vilnius airport closed after unidentified object alert

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Vilnius International Airport was temporarily closed for less than an hour after authorities detected a possible unidentified flying object approaching from the direction of Belarus, prompting NATO Baltic Air Policing fighter jets to scramble. Officials could not conclusively identify the object; initial data matched unmanned aerial vehicle characteristics but the signal later vanished and the object's speed was slower than some drones. Lithuanian authorities issued mobile alerts advising residents to be ready to shelter and raised a yellow alert for a possible air threat in parts of the Vilnius region. The episode follows recent drone alerts and a separate shoot-down incident in mid-September.

Vilnius briefly closed controlled airspace after a suspected aerial object triggered alerts.