Bangor International Airport received two unique visitors from the sky Monday.

Two MiG-29 fighter jets from Ukraine flew into BIA under escort. The planes are being partially dismantled for a return trip to their homeland.

A photo in Tuesday’s Bangor Daily News prompted several telephone calls from people wondering why the Soviet fighter jets were in Bangor.

The MiG-29s, the most sophisticated fighter aircraft in the Commonwealth of Independent States — formerly the Soviet Union — were here on a friendly mission. Richard Paszyc, marketing director at BIA, said the jet fighters had been star attractions in air shows across the country for the last six months.

A huge cargo plane, the “Anatov 124,” was scheduled to fly into BIA Tuesday. The aircraft, which is from Ukraine, will transport the fighter jets back to their homeland in the next two to three days, according to Paszyc.

Officials decided to return the jets to Ukraine through BIA because of the airport’s strategic location and its long runway that will permit the heavily loaded cargo plane to lift off, according to Paszyc.

The MiG-29s flew into BIA shortly before noon Monday escorted by three American F-16 fighter jets. Glasnost, the new openness between the former Soviet Union and the West, is responsible for the visit, according to Paszyc.