Series of UFO sightings
The
Belgian UFO wave
was a series of sightings of
triangular UFOs
in Belgium, which lasted from 29 November 1989 to April 1990.
The sightings
[
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]
The Belgian UFO wave began in November 1989. Reports were filed, most many weeks after the events. Many of the reports related a large object flying at low altitude. Some reports also stated that the craft was of a flat, triangular shape, with lights underneath.
[1]
The Belgian UFO wave peaked with the events of the night of 30?31 March 1990. On that night, one unknown object was tracked on
radar
, and two
Belgian Air Force
F-16s
were sent to investigate, with neither pilot reporting seeing the object. No reports were received from the public on the date. But over the next 2 weeks reports from 143 people who claimed to have witnessed the object were received, all of them after the event. Over the ensuing months, many others claimed to have witnessed these events as well.
[2]
Following the incident, the Belgian Air Force released a report detailing the events of that night.
[
citation needed
]
At around 23:00 on 30 March, the supervisor for the Control Reporting Center (CRC) at
Glons
received reports that three unusual lights were seen moving towards Thorembais-Gembloux, which lies to the southeast of
Brussels
. Glons CRC requested the
Wavre
gendarmerie
send a patrol to confirm the sighting.
[
citation needed
]
Approximately 10 minutes later, some later reports stated that a second set of lights were seen, moving towards the first triangle. Traffic Center Control at
Semmerzake
tracked one object only on its radar, and an order to scramble two
F-16
fighters from
Beauvechain Air Base
was given. Throughout this time, in reports after the event, some people claim that the phenomenon was visible from the ground, describing the whole formation as maintaining their relative positions while moving slowly across the sky.
[
citation needed
]
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 these were later shown to be Radar-locks on each other. The pilots never reported seeing any of the claimed sightings, saw none of the claimed manoeuvres, and never got a lock on any objects apart from the other F16.
[
citation needed
]
The other contacts were all found to be the result of a well-known atmospheric interference called
Bragg scattering
.
After 00:30, radar contact became much more sporadic and the final confirmed lock took place at 00:40. Following several further unconfirmed contacts, the F-16s eventually returned to base shortly after 01:00.
[
citation needed
]
Members of the Wavre gendarmerie who had been sent to confirm the original report, 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. They also reported that a low engine noise was heard and that it seemed to have a stick coming out one end with a turbine on it, which has led many to conclude the object was a helicopter.
[3]
"Patrick M." hoax photograph
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]
In April 1990, a hoax photo of a triangular object upon which three lights are visible at each corner was taken by an anonymous photographer. Since then, a man named Patrick Marechal
[6]
has publicly admitted to creating the hoax "UFO" photograph.
[7]
Experts say there is no background in the photograph and no element that would allow calculation of the object's size or distance from the camera. Wim van Utrecht has reproduced a copy of the photograph with devices. A
computer graphics
simulation method
[8]
to reproduce the photograph was developed by a Belgian mathematician,
Thierry Veyt
at The
University of Liege
Laboratory of Astrophysics, wherein the apparent "shake" motion, that results in the lights of the craft appearing blurred or out of focus in the photograph contradicts eye-witness statements. This, along with the anonymity of the photographer and fact that the image was not produced publicly until 4 months after the alleged event, also brought the authenticity of the image into question.
For 20 years, the ufological organization
Societe belge d'etude des phenomenes spatiaux
(
SOBEPS
) claimed that this picture was genuine. But on 26 July 2011, in an interview for
RTL
, a Belgian TV channel, Patrick Marechal explained that it was a hoax.
[9]
[10]
In his 27 September 2016,
Skeptoid podcast
episode titled "The Belgian UFO Wave," author
Brian Dunning
discussed the photographic evidence and said that the single photograph is emblematic of the quality of all the evidence that characterized the Belgian UFO wave. In 2011, Patrick Marechal demonstrated how he had created the hoax UFO, by cutting a piece of styrofoam into a triangle, painting it black, embedding a flashlight in each corner, and hanging it from a string.
[6]
Explanations
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In 1992, about three years after the first sighting, which occurred on 29 November 1989, in Eupen, Marc Hallet wrote an essay about the Belgian UFO wave criticizing the work done by the SOBEPS:
La Vague OVNI Belge ou le triomphe de la desinformation
,
[11]
arguing that this UFOlogical organisation was spreading misinformation in the media. Hallet's thesis is that the Belgian UFO wave was mostly a
mass delusion
, boosted by the work done by the SOBEPS. This mass delusion would have followed
Philip J. Klass
's law: "Once news coverage leads the public to believe that UFOs may be in the vicinity, there are numerous natural and man-made objects which, especially seen at night, can take on unusual characteristics in the minds of hopeful viewers. Their UFO reports in turn add to the mass excitement, which encourages still more observers to watch for UFOs. This situation feeds upon itself until such time as the media lose interest in the subject, and then the flap quickly runs out of steam."
[6]
[12]
In 1993, Pierre Magain and Marc Remy published an article in
Physicalia Magazine
,
[13]
in which their conclusions don't match those from the SOBEPS. They also state that the Belgian UFO wave would be better studied by people in the human sciences than by physicists.
In
The Belgian UFO Wave of 1989?1992 ? A Neglected Hypothesis
, Renaud Leclet & co. discuss the fact that some sightings can be explained by helicopters. Most witnesses reported that the objects were silent. This report argues that the lack of noise could be due to the engine noise in the witnesses' automobiles, or strong natural wind blowing away from the witnesses.
[14]
In his article
The Beginning of the Belgian UFO wave
, Jean-Michel Abrassart argues that the beginning of the wave does not contradict the
psychosocial hypothesis
,
[15]
contrary to what the SOBEPS claimed in his work. In an article published on his website in 2011,
The Belgian Wave and the photos of stuff
, Auguste Meessen
[16]
replied to several criticisms (by Roger Paquay and Jean-Michel Abrassart) and argues that, according to him, the Belgian UFO wave is completely unexplained. Roger Paquay
[17]
and Jean-Michel Abrassart
[18]
both wrote rebuttals to the Belgian physicist's article.
In "The Belgian UFO Wave"
Skeptoid podcast
episode,
Brian Dunning
discussed the F-16 chase and reported that
The pilots also got intermittent contact with objects, but they appeared and disappeared and moved up and down too fast, including going underground. The pilots never saw anything at all. SOBEPS reported that they obtained radar lock on targets nine times; but the Belgian military only reported three such locks, and upon analyzing the data, all three radar locks were on each other. The other contacts were all found to be the result of a well-known atmospheric interference called Bragg scattering.
[6]
[19]
Regarding the "wave" of eye-witness reports and lack of photographic evidence, Dunning concludes
You read a story in the paper that a UFO was seen flying over your town a night or two ago. You remember that you saw something you took for a bright star or an airplane, thought nothing of it at the time, but this amazing new story makes you realize that what you saw must have been this UFO. You and I might not necessarily make that connection, but it's perfectly reasonable that a lot of people will; and so they follow the instructions in the newspaper article and send a report to SOBEPS. With so many articles over a period of years in a small country, it's no great surprise that SOBEPS reported they eventually received as many as 2,600 in all. The 143 reports Meessen claims for the original 29 November incident were indeed received, but only after more than a week of aggressive and repeated solicitation in the mass media. It is only much later retellings of the story that wrongly assume all 2,600 were reported as people were watching the F-16s chase the UFOs, or that all 143 initial reports came independently on that first night. All the reports were after the fact, and were only made after prompting and solicitation by SOBEPS and the media.
It was simply a psycho-social phenomenon, which is why there is no evidence and only the one questionable photograph. If 13,500 people did all actually see something that they took for a UFO at the time, I guarantee you that more than just a single photograph would have resulted.
[6]
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"The Belgium UFO Wave"
.
ufoevidence.org
. Archived from
the original
on 24 August 2014.
- ^
"
'Sunday Express' article on Belgium UFO"
.
Sunday Express
. 17 September 1995
. Retrieved
21 March
2008
.
- ^
"Report concerning the observation of UFOs in the night from March 30 to March 31, 1990 ? ufoevidence.org"
. Retrieved
21 March
2008
.
- ^
Vey, Tristan (28 July 2011).
"La photo d'un ovni belge celebre etait un trucage"
.
Le Figaro
.
- ^
"Photos d'ovnis : la plus celebre etait fausse"
.
Science et Vie
. 28 September 2011.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Dunning, Brian
.
"Skeptoid #538: The Belgian UFO Wave"
.
Skeptoid
. Retrieved
30 September
2016
.
- ^
Utrecht, W.Van.
"CAELESTIA Triangles over Belgium (addendum)"
.
caelestia.be
.
- ^
Original paper given to the french newspaper Le Soir Illustre and reproduced by
Les repas ufologiques parisiens,
a french ufo association
Le flou de bouge de la photo de petit-rechain par la calcul matriciel
- ^
"Le mystere du celebre OVNI des annees 90 elucide : "Une supercherie"
"
.
RTL
. August 2011. Archived from
the original
on 29 September 2011
. Retrieved
13 August
2011
.
- ^
Sheaffer, Robert (26 July 2011).
"
"Classic" UFO Photo from Belgian Wave ? the Hoaxer Confesses"
.
- ^
Hallet, M. (1992). La Vague OVNI Belge ou le triomphe de la desinformation. Liege : Chez L’auteur
- ^
Klass, P. J. (1986). UFOs : The public deceived. New York, USA : Prometheus Books.
- ^
Pierre Magain & Marc Remy (1993). ≪ Les OVNI : un sujet de recherche ? ≫,
Physicalia Magazine, vol. 15, n°4
, pp. 311?18.
- ^
"The Belgian UFO Wave of 1989?1992 ? A Neglected Hypothesis"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
9 January
2010
.
- ^
Abrassart, J-M (2010).
The Beginning of the Belgian UFO wave
.
SUNLite, vol. 2, num. 6
, pp. 21?23.
- ^
Meessen, A. (2011).
The Belgian Wave and the photos of Ramillies
Archived
23 July 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
, pp. 21?23.
- ^
Paquay, R. (2011). Answer to "The Belgian wave and the photos of Ramillies".
SUNLite, vol. 3, n°3
, pp. 20?22.
- ^
Abrassart, J-M. (2011). In defense of the psychosociological hypothesis ? Another reply to Auguste Meessen.
SUNLite, vol. 3, n°4
Archived
28 January 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
, pp. 9?12.
- ^
Wolff, Christian.
"Radar Basics: Bragg-Scattering"
.
RadarTutorial.eu
. Retrieved
2 October
2016
.
Further reading
[
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]
- SOBEPS
:
Vague OVNI sur la Belgique
(UFO wave over Belgium)
External links
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