India： Army ’mistook planets for spy drones’ 印度：軍方「誤認行星為無人間諜機」

India： Army ’mistook planets for spy drones’
印度：軍方「誤認行星為無人間諜機」
2013-08-19◎管淑平

India’s army reportedly spent six months watching "Chinese spy drones" violating its air space, only to find out they were actually Jupiter and Venus.
據報導印度軍方花了6個月時間監視「中國無人間諜機」侵犯其領空，最後卻發現它們其實是木星和金星。


Tensions have been high in the disputed Himalayan border area between the two nations in recent years, with India frequently accusing its neighbour of making incursions onto its territory.
近年這兩國之間爭議的喜瑪拉雅邊界地區情勢一直很緊張，印度時常指控其鄰國入侵其領土。


Things came to a head during a stand-off in April when Chinese troops were accused of erecting a camp on the Indian side of the de facto boundary known as the Line of Actual Control （LAC）.
情勢在4月一場對峙期間達到危急關頭，當時中國部隊被控在名為「實際控制線」實際邊界的印度那一邊紮營。


By that stage, Indian troops had already documented 329 sightings of unidentified objects over a lake in the border region, between last August and February, according to the Calcutta-based Telegraph.
據總部設於加爾各答的「電訊報」報導，到那時為止，印度部隊已記錄到，從去年8月到今年2月間有329次目擊到邊境地區一座湖泊上空出現不明飛行物。


The army called the Indian Institute of Astrophysics to identify the objects. "Our task was to determine whether these unidentified objects were celestial or terrestrial," astronomer Tushar Prabhu told the paper.
軍方找上「印度天文物理研究所」辨識這些飛行物。「我們的任務是要確定這些不明物體是天體還是地球上的東西」，天文學家圖夏爾．蒲拉烏向這家報紙說。


Only once the objects’ movements were noted in relation to the stars were they identified as planets.
只是，這些物體一經發覺是相對於恆星運動，就被確認是行星。


The Telegraph suggests the sentry ought to be forgiven, with planets appearing brighter as a result of the increased atmospheric transparency at the high altitude and the increased use of surveillance drones.
電訊報認為，應該原諒哨兵，因為行星會因高海拔大氣透明度較高而顯得比較亮，而且無人偵察機的使用增加。


新聞辭典
come to a head：動詞片語，情況達到緊要關頭、高點或必須處理的時刻，時機成熟。例句：The national crisis has come to a head.（這場全國性危機已達緊要關頭。）
de facto：形容詞或副詞，事實上的、實際上的。例句：He is the de facto leader of the company.（他是這家公司實際上的領導人。）
sentry：名詞，哨兵，崗哨；動詞，設哨站、站哨。例句：The sentries are all on hight alert.（衛兵都處於高度警戒。）