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 The Belgian UFO wave began in November 1989, in the city of Eupen. Reports were filed, and 143 people claimed to have witnessed an unidentified flying object, though most of these reports were submitted over a week after the purported event and also following media coverage. Many of the reports alleged the existence of a large object flying at low altitude. Some reports also stated that the craft was of a flat, triangular shape, with lights underneath. Skeptic Brian Dunning asserts that the original 29 November report was actually an object with a stick protruding from one end with a turbine, accompanied by a low engine noise; this has led many to conclude the object was a Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter.

The Belgian UFO wave peaked with the events of the night of 30 March 1990, wherein an unknown object was tracked on radar, and two Belgian Air Force F-16s were sent to investigate. However, neither pilot reported visual confirmation of the object. According to Dunning, all reports from the public were received after the date of the incident. Following the encounter, the Belgian Air Force released a report detailing the events of that night.

At around 23:00 on 30 March 1990, the supervisor for the Control Reporting Center (CRC) at Glons received reports that three unusual lights were seen in the direction of Thorembais-Gembloux, which lies southeast of Brussels. Glons CRC requested the gendarmerie in Wavre send a patrol to confirm the sighting.

A second set of lights was reported having moved towards the first triangle approximately 10 minutes later. Traffic Center Control at Semmerzake tracked one object on its radar, and an order to scramble two F-16 fighters from Beauvechain Air Base was given. Multiple witnesses claimed that the phenomenon was visible from the ground; the Air Force report further states: "Their respective position does not change. The whole formation seems to move slowly in comparison with the stars."

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 asserted by Dunning to be locks on each other. The pilots never reported visually confirming the alleged objects or their anomalous manoeuvres. Per Dunning, not only did neither F-16 ever lock onto any objects apart from the other fighter, he further asserted that 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 radar lock took place at 00:40. Following several further unconfirmed contacts, the F-16s eventually returned to base shortly after 01:00.

Members of the Wavre gendarmerie were sent to confirm the original report from earlier in the night, and Captain Pinson described four lights 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.

Patrick Maréchal hoax photograph

In April 1990, a photo of a black triangular object with three lights at its corners was released by an anonymous photographer. Published at the height of the wave, the photo was widely seen in newspapers and other sources, known as the "Petit-Rechain photo". The photograph was examined by a number of sources, including NASA, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the Belgian Royal Military Academy, but none could positively identify it or find obvious signs of fakery. There were concerns about its authenticity, not only due to the lack of reference objects in frame, but also since it was reportedly shown to be reproducible with practical effects early on. It was also questioned due to the anonymous release, but these concerns were rejected by proponents and the debate lingered. For 20 years, the ufological organization Société belge d'étude des phénomènes spatiaux (SOBEPS) claimed that this picture was genuine, while others like Les repas ufologiques parisiens were not sure, pointing to apparent anomalies wherein the motion blur seemed mathematically inconsistent with what would be expected in three-dimensional space.Le flou de bougé de la photo de petit-rechain par la calcul matriciel

On 26 July 2011, in an interview for the Belgian TV channel RTL, Patrick Maréchal explained that it was a hoax that he had constructed to fool his workmates. He 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.

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.

Explanations

In 1992, about three years after the first sighting, Marc Hallet wrote an essay about the Belgian UFO wave criticizing the work done by SOBEPS: La Vague OVNI Belge ou le triomphe de la désinformation,Hallet, M. (1992). La Vague OVNI Belge ou le triomphe de la désinformation. Liège : Chez L’auteur arguing that this ufological organisation was spreading misinformation in the media. Hallet's thesis was that the Belgian UFO wave was mostly a mass delusion, boosted by the work done by SOBEPS. This mass delusion would have followed Philip J. Klass' law:

In 1993, Pierre Magain and Marc Remy published an article in Physicalia Magazine,Pierre Magain & Marc Remy (1993). "Les OVNI : un sujet de recherche ?", Physicalia Magazine, vol. 15, n°4, pp. 311–18. in which their conclusions deviated from those of SOBEPS. They also stated that the Belgian UFO wave would have been better studied by people in the human sciences than by physicists.

In The Belgian UFO Wave of 1989–1992 – A Neglected Hypothesis, Renaud Leclet et al. discussed the fact that some sightings could be explained by helicopters. Though most witnesses reported that the objects were silent, this report argued that the lack of noise could have been due to the engine noise in the witnesses' automobiles, or strong natural wind blowing away from the witnesses.

In his article The Beginning of the Belgian UFO wave, Jean-Michel Abrassart argued that the events surrounding the beginning of the wave did not contradict the psychosocial hypothesis,Abrassart, J-M (2010). The Beginning of the Belgian UFO wave. SUNLite, vol. 2, num. 6 , pp. 21–23. contrary to what SOBEPS claimed in its work. In an article published on his website in 2011, The Belgian Wave and the photos of Ramillies, Auguste MeessenMeessen, A. (2011). The Belgian Wave and the photos of Ramillies , pp. 21–23. replied to several criticisms by Roger Paquay and Jean-Michel Abrassart and argued that, according to him, the Belgian UFO wave was completely unexplained. Roger PaquayPaquay, R. (2011). Answer to "The Belgian wave and the photos of Ramillies". SUNLite, vol. 3, n°3 , pp. 20–22. and Jean-Michel AbrassartAbrassart, J-M. (2011). In defense of the psychosociological hypothesis – Another reply to Auguste Meessen. SUNLite, vol. 3, n°4 , pp. 9–12. 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:

Regarding the "wave" of eyewitness reports and lack of photographic evidence, Dunning concluded:

General Wilfried De Brouwer, who was Chief of Operations of the Air Staff at the time, initially interpreted the sightings as being caused by experimental American craft, to which American authorities "confirmed that 'no USAF stealth aircraft were operating in the ... area during the periods in question.'"

See also UFO sightings in Belgium List of UFO-related hoaxes Black triangle UFO

Notes

References

Further reading SOBEPS: Vague OVNI sur la Belgique (UFO wave over Belgium)

External links Belgium 1990: A Case for Radar-Visual UFOS? – Tim Printy Skeptic Report Triangles over Belgium (Wim Van Utrecht) "Classic" UFO Photo from Belgian Wave – the Hoaxer Confesses

Le triangle belge (189-1991), LUXORION Le canular de l'OVNI de Petit-Rechain, LUXORION