Belgian UFO wave

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A picture purported to have been taken during the Belgian UFO wave, but which did not show up until thirteen years later.
A picture purported to have been taken during the Belgian UFO wave, but which did not show up until thirteen years later.

The Belgian UFO wave refers to a series of sightings of triangular UFOs in Belgium, which lasted from November 29, 1989 to April 1990.

Contents

[edit] The sightings

The Belgian UFO wave peaked with the events of the night of 30/31 March 1990. On that night unknown objects were tracked on radar, photographed, and were sighted by an estimated 13,500 people on the ground - 2,600 of whom filed written statements describing in detail what they had seen.[1] Following the incident the Belgian air force released a report detailing the events of that night.

At around 2300 on 30 March the supervisor for the Control Reporting Center (CRC) at Glons received reports that three unusual lights had been seen moving towards Thorembais-Gembloux which lies to the south-east of Brussels. The lights were reported to be brighter than stars, changing color between red, green and yellow, and appeared to be fixed at the apexes of an equilateral triangle. At this point Glons CRC requested the Wavre gendarmerie send a patrol to confirm the sighting.

Approximately 10 minutes later a second set of lights was sighted moving towards the first triangle. By around 2330 the Wavre gendarmerie had confirmed the initial sightings and Glons CRC had been able to observe the phenomenon on radar. During this time the second set of lights, after some erratic manoeuvres, had also formed themselves into a smaller triangle. After tracking the targets, and after receiving a second radar confirmation from the Traffic Center Control at Semmerkaze, Glons CRC gave the order to scramble two F-16 fighters from Beauvechain Air Base shortly before midnight. Throughout this time the phenomenon was still clearly visible from the ground, with witnesses describing the whole formation as maintaining their relative positions while moving slowly across the sky. Witnesses also reported two dimmer lights towards the municipality of Eghezee displaying similar erratic movements to the second set of lights.

Over the next hour the two scrambled F-16s attempted nine separate interceptions of the targets. On three occasions they managed to obtain a radar lock for a few seconds but each time the targets changed position and speed so rapidly that the lock was broken. During the first radar lock, the target accelerated from 150mph to over 1100mph while changing altitude from 9000ft to 5000ft, then up to 11000ft before descending to almost ground level – the first descent of more than 3000 feet taking less than two seconds. Similar manoeuvres were observed during both subsequent radar locks. On no occasion were the F-16 pilots able to make visual contact with the targets and at no point, despite the speeds involved, was there any indication of a sonic boom.

During this time, ground witnesses broadly corroborate the information obtained by radar. At one point describing seeing the smaller triangle completely disappear from sight and the larger triangle moving very rapidly upwards while the F-16s flew past. After 0030 radar contact became much more sporadic and the final confirmed lock took place at 0040. This final lock was once again broken by an acceleration from around 100mph to 700mph after which the radar of the F-16s and those at Glons and Semmerkaze all lost contact. Following several further unconfirmed contacts the F-16s eventually returned to base shortly after 0100.

The final details of the sighting were provided by the members of the Wavre gendarmerie who had been sent to confirm the original report. They describe four lights now being arranged in a square formation, all making short jerky movements, before gradually losing their luminosity and disappearing in four separate directions at around 01:30.[2]

[edit] Photographs

On April 1990, a picture was taken of the aircraft, and it remains as one of the most famous UFO pictures to date.[1]

[edit] Conclusions

After appraising the evidence, the Belgian Air Force found it could offer no explanation for the sighting, but did reject the following possibilities:[3]

  • Balloons.
  • Ultralight aircraft (ULM).
  • Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
  • Aircraft (including Stealth).
  • Laser projections or holograms.
  • Mirages or other meteorological phenomena.

[edit] Media

[edit] Books

UFOs above Belgium, written by John van Waterschoot, mathematician, economist and professor at the University of Leuven. Published by Lannoo.[4]

Vague OVNI sur la Belgique (UFO wave over Belgium), written by the defunct SOBEPS organisation.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ SUNDAY EXPRESS Newspaper, September 17, 1995. Retrieved on March 21, 2008.
  2. ^ Report concerning the observation of UFOs in the night from March 30 to March 31, 1990 - Belgian Air Force Report. Retrieved on March 21, 2008.
  3. ^ Belgian UFO wave at Ufocasebook. Retrieved on March 31, 2008.
  4. ^ UFOs over Belgium (1989-1991). Retrieved on December 23, 2007.
  5. ^ The So-Called "Belgian Ufo Wave" - A Critical View-. Retrieved on December 23, 2007.

[edit] External links

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