Lithuania says drone sighting turns out to be flock of birds, after NATO summons jets

Lithuania said that a perceived drone sighting in its airspace earlier on Sunday that prompted authorities to close Vilnius airport and NATO to summon at least one fighter jet, turned out to be a flock of birds.

The air alert was lifted and the airport reopened within 38 minutes, after the NATO jet made a visual identification, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said. “On initial radar readings, marks left by birds and drones can be similar,” it added in a statement. A jet had been summoned from Siauliai in northern Lithuania, the centre said, where the Italian air force is currently based as part of the NATO Baltic Air Defence mission. Military…