# Lithuanian authorities close airport, scramble NATO jet when mistaking birds for drones in real life '99 Red Balloons' incident

By Libby Emmons · Published 2026-09-14 · News & Analysis › World · https://humanevents.com/news/lithuanian-authorities-close-airport-scramble-nato-jet-when-mistaking-birds-for-drones-in-real-life-99-red-balloons-incident

> "Panic bells, it's red alert, There's something here from somewhere else, The war machine springs to life, Opens up one eager eye, Focusing it on the sky, Where ninety-nine red balloons go by."

Lithuania scrambled to action on Sunday and closed the airport at Vilnius when radar readings indicated that drones were swarming overhead. Authorities contacted NATO, as well, urging them to send a fighter jet.

A jet flew in from Siauliai in the northern region of the Baltic state. Italian military personnel are currently stationed there as part of the Baltic Air Defense Mission. Upon further evaluation, however, it turned out that the menacing drones were just a flock of birds.

Reuters [reports](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/lithuania-closes-vilnius-airport-nato-summons-jets-response-possible-drone-2026-09-13/) that "the air alert was lifted and the ​airport reopened within 38 minutes, after the NATO ​jet made a visual identification."

The incident brings to mind the 1983 song by German pop sensation Nena, who sang about buying balloons, releasing them, and sparking an international incident. Much like the Lithuanian authorities fooled by birds, the officials in the song mistake balloons for bombs and set off a chain reaction to destroy an entire city. The English lyrics read:

You and I in a little toy shop  Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got  Set them free at the break of dawn  'Til one by one they were gone  Back at base bugs in the software  Flash the message: "something's out there!"  Floating in the summer sky  Ninety-nine red balloons go by    Ninety-nine red balloons  Floating in the summer sky  Panic bells, it's red alert  There's something here from somewhere else  The war machine springs to life  Opens up one eager eye  Focusing it on the sky  Where ninety-nine red balloons go by    Ninety-nine Decision Street  Ninety-nine ministers meet  To worry, worry, super scurry  Call the troops out in a hurry  This is what we've waited for  This is it, boys, this is war  The president is on the line  As ninety-nine red balloons go by    Ninety-nine knights of the air  Ride super high-tech jet fighters  Everyone's a Super Hero  Everyone's a Captain Kirk  With orders to identify  To clarify and classify  Scramble in the summer sky  Ninety-nine red balloons go by    As ninety-nine red balloons go by    Ninety-nine dreams I have had  In every one a red balloon  It's all over and I'm standing pretty  In this dust that was a city  If I could find a souvenir  Just to prove the world was here  And here is a red balloon  I think of you, and let it go

The English version of the song hit number 1 in the UK, Ireland, and Canada, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America. The German version topped charts in West Germany, Australia, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and others.

"On initial radar readings, marks left by ​birds and drones can be similar," said Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre.

There have been concerns, the outlet reports, about military drones from the Russia-Ukraine war wandering across into the airspace of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as these nations resist getting involved in the war.

According to the [Kyiv Post](https://www.kyivpost.com/post/84131), a Russian drone veered into Romanian airspace for about 31 miles on September 8, causing two F-18s to scramble, though the drone managed to evade them and crash in Moldova. That border crossing took place while NATO was working on an air surveillance and defense exercise nearby, the outlet reports.

The Russia-Ukraine war has made great use of drone warfare, with each side targeting and launching drones that are propelled onto their targets. With these weapons, Ukraine has been able to strike military bases, oil refineries, supply lines, logistics hubs, and other targets. Russia, too, has made use of their Shahed drones, manufactured by Iran.

Drone warfare is also at play in the US-Iran war, where Iran has used their drones to attack military bases, killing US personnel and destroying infrastructure.

*Graphic made with Grok AI.*