Belgian UFO wave
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 6
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Belgian wave |
| On the Timeline | 1 event, 1992 |
The Belgian UFO wave was a series of sightings of large, dark, triangular objects with lights reported across Belgium from late November 1989 to April 1990. It is notable for the involvement of police and the Belgian Air Force, which scrambled F-16 fighters on the night of 30–31 March 1990, and for its later debunked photograph of a triangle. Skeptics attribute the wave to helicopters, radar artefacts and social contagion; some investigators maintain that part of it remains unexplained.[1][2][5]
Sightings
The wave began on 29 November 1989 near Eupen in eastern Belgium, where police officers reported a large, low-flying object with lights underneath. About 143 people eventually reported seeing something that day, though most reports were made more than a week later, after the story was widely covered. The Belgian civilian group SOBEPS (Société Belge d'Étude des Phénomènes Spatiaux), with physicist Auguste Meessen, collected reports and said it received as many as 2,600 in total.[1]
The F-16 scramble
At about 11 p.m. on 30 March 1990, the Glons control and reporting centre received reports of three unusual lights near Thorembais-Gembloux, south-east of Brussels, and radar at Semmerzake tracked an unknown target. Two F-16s from Beauvechain air base were scrambled and, over about an hour, attempted nine interceptions, achieving brief radar locks three times, the last at 12:40 a.m. The pilots never saw an object. A gendarmerie captain in Wavre reported four lights in a square formation that disappeared at about 1:30 a.m.[1][3]
Unusually, the Belgian Air Force shared its data publicly. Its operations chief, Wilfried De Brouwer, initially suspected experimental American aircraft; U.S. authorities denied that any stealth aircraft were flying in the area.[1]
The Petit-Rechain photograph
In April 1990 an anonymous photographer released a photo, taken at Petit-Rechain, showing a black triangle with a light at each corner and one in the centre. It became the most famous image of the wave and was analysed by several laboratories without being identified. SOBEPS defended it for two decades. In July 2011 Patrick Maréchal admitted on RTL television that he had faked it with a polystyrene triangle painted black, with lights, hung on a thread.[1][4]
Explanations
- Skeptic Brian Dunning argued that the first object on 29 November was probably a Bell UH-1 helicopter, that the F-16 radar locks were locks onto each other, and that other radar contacts were caused by atmospheric "Bragg scattering".[1][2]
- Belgian researcher Marc Hallet argued in 1992 that the wave was largely a mass delusion amplified by media and SOBEPS, and others suggested many sightings were helicopters.[1]
- Meessen argued in 2011 that the wave remained unexplained, a view disputed by other Belgian researchers.[1]
On the UAP Timeline
- British embassy report on triangles (1992) (22 December 1992) — The British embassy reports on the U.S. reaction to triangular UAP sightings.
References
- Belgian UFO wave — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Brian Dunning, "The Belgian UFO Wave", Skeptoid #538 · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- Belgian Air Force report on the night of 30–31 March 1990 — UFO Evidence · ufoevidence.org · archived copy
- Tristan Vey, "La photo d'un ovni belge célèbre était un trucage", Le Figaro (28 Jul 2011) · lefigaro.fr · archived copy
- "30 years later, we still don't know what really happened during the Belgian UFO wave", The Week (30 Mar 2020) · theweek.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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