Russian Aircraft Standoff by Corran Nolan

Earlier this week a Russian fighter plane intercepted a United States reconnaissance plane in airspace North of Poland, performing what the Pentagon called "aggressive maneuvers... performed in close proximity to the aircraft [at]... a high rate of speed." Because the airspace was technically international, the Pentagon called the actions of the pilot "unsafe and unprofessional", sending out tweets about the situation at a later date. The Russian news organization Sputnik says that the reason for the maneuvers was so the pilot could ascertain the tail number of the recon craft, because the transponder was shut off, though the Pentagon denies this as untrue.

This incident is very similar to the U2 incident of the Cold War, in which a US reconnaissance plane was shot down in Russian airspace, leading to a ratcheting up of tensions and the failure of talks between the US and USSR. Normally issues like this wouldn't be a big deal, but because of recent tensions with Russia (similar to the Cold War), both countries are on high alert, and neither wants to be responsible for starting a war.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/11/europe/russia-u-s-plane-intercept/index.html