The Israeli air force has shot down a suspicious object hovering in the desert region where the country's main nuclear reactor is located.

The military said today the object was "apparently a balloon" and that officials were investigating.

Airline flights over Israel's south were halted during the encounter. No further details were immediately available.

Israel Radio reported the object was shot down in the area of the Dead Sea, in the general region of the nuclear reactor, next to the desert town of Dimona.

Israel enforces a strict airspace quarantine in the area of the facility. Foreign experts have concluded Israel has made hundreds of nuclear weapons. Israel's policy is to neither confirm nor deny it has nuclear bombs.