Triangular UFO Sightings

[BS3]

If it was light aircraft or microlights then they must have put some practice and skill into
It as formation flying at night is not for the
faint hearted.

Clearly, and this is a point Ruhl makes - the pilots involved were very skilled. However he also makes the point that what they were doing was "downright stupid and irresponsible".

 

[BeardSprite]

Also as a cargo plane it's kinda amusing that the seats are literally strapped down as if they're cargo pallets.

I think 'mission configurable' is the technical term

View attachment 55352

For visual reference, this is one of the images of the aircraft (small Cessnas) in formation taken by the APRO investigator, Ruhl. Quite impressive and gives a good idea what at least some of the witnesses were looking at.

Here's how Ruhl described the object before realising he was looking at planes, immediately before 'staking out' Stormville airstrip:

This ties into something I'd been seeing in some of the web stuff I'd been reading - the conflation of something like a single engine cessna with ultr/microlight aircraft.

To my mind the types are quite different - I'd always understood a microlight to be something like a hang glider with an engine and a seat, and ultralight to be similar but with a distinct and rigid wing, and then light aeroplane to be something like a single engine cessna/piper etc.

Though hving just had a quick look, I can't find anything to back up those assumptions on my part.

If the lights in that picture are attached to cessna's, then I believe it is possible to legally fly those at night/under ifr conditions - if properly qualified.

It would also make looking further into the whole 'Hudson Valley Triangles' situation pretty moot.

If night formation flying light aircraft are confirmed, the lack of any serious attempt at investigating the Hudson Valley flap (and no, being halfway through, I can't see Night Siege as a serious attempt to investigate it - and I'm still on the fence about wading through the second half) renders the whole exercise kind of pointless.

Cornets 'shape shifting UFO's that mimic conventional aircraft' (youtube link) are still C5's, though! (first 'ufo' at 1:24 if you want to skip the text).

 

[BS3]

I think 'mission configurable' is the technical term



This ties into something I'd been seeing in some of the web stuff I'd been reading - the conflation of something like a single engine cessna with ultr/microlight aircraft.

To my mind the types are quite different - I'd always understood a microlight to be something like a hang glider with an engine and a seat, and ultralight to be similar but with a distinct and rigid wing, and then light aeroplane to be something like a single engine cessna/piper etc.

Though hving just had a quick look, I can't find anything to back up those assumptions on my part.

If the lights in that picture are attached to cessna's, then I believe it is possible to legally fly those at night/under ifr conditions - if properly qualified.

It would also make looking further into the whole 'Hudson Valley Triangles' situation pretty moot.

If night formation flying light aircraft are confirmed, the lack of any serious attempt at investigating the Hudson Valley flap (and no, being halfway through, I can't see Night Siege as a serious attempt to investigate it - and I'm still on the fence about wading through the second half) renders the whole exercise kind of pointless.

Cornets 'shape shifting UFO's that mimic conventional aircraft' (youtube link) are still C5's, though! (first 'ufo' at 1:24 if you want to skip the text).

I think we probably have a bit of both going on - aircraft in formation maybe account for a few of the more spectacular 'mass' sightings, but these in turn led people to actively look upwards and misidentify C5s as triangular craft, creating an ongoing flap.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Was the Petit-Rechain ever exposed as a fake?

See my post #91.

I clearly didn't think so at that time, however, this really needs to be definitely clarified.

THE PETIT-RECHAIN PHOTOGRAPH

I hope you can follow this - it is a complicated story, frequently misreported.

You need to see the content here:

https://www.caelestia.be/article05ad.html

Also, the following televised confession, from our self-proclaimed hoaxer, 'Patrick', who seemingly does not, at this point, wish his full name to be revealed.

This might be the 26 July, 2011, 'confession' interview for RTL, a Belgian TV channel.

If necessary, turn on ''Subtitles' and select 'translate to English'.

There are questions concerning Maréchal's confession.

Discussing this case on the previous 'UFO Research List' (1999 - 2004), on 5 January 2000, Jean-Pierre Pharabod replied to myself:

"Well, first I must say that, strictly speaking, "delta-shaped" is an expression coming from the (capital) fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, and should mean in fact "triangular". However, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary, it is said that a delta wing is "the triangular swept-back wing of an aircraft", and generally this kind of wing is not strictly triangular (see for example the Vulcan).

If I had to define geometrically the shape of the Petit-Rechain object, I would say "a pentagon with two sides parallel and an axis of symetry", but let's say that it is "delta-shaped".

During the evening of November 29, 1989, which saw the massive arrival of the "Belgian wave", several witnesses saw clearly this "delta shape", probably because it was not yet complete night.

Professor A. Meessen himself draw at least one sketch of a "delta-shaped" object in the SOBEPS book chapter about what happened this day, from the descriptions made by witnesses.

The days after that massive arrival, there were less sightings (which means IMHO that it was not a media induced phenomenon...) and the "object" appeared generally when it was really night; people spoke then of "triangle" or "triangle with rounded corners".

IMHO, this is an argument in favour of the authenticity of the Petit-Rechain photo: a hoaxer would have made a triangle, since practically nobody knew of the "delta shape" observed the first day".
(End)

Note though, this was prior to Maréchal's confession.

Remaining uncertainty, is with regard to an enhancement of the Petit-Rechain image, indicating a delta-shaped profile.

Consequently, how does this equate with Maréchal's claims that the hoax model was a cut-out triangle?

A copy of that enhancement, plus, for information and comparison, a sketch from my Belgium incidents case records, are attached.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

THE PETIT-RECHAIN PHOTOGRAPH

Several reports of Maréchal's confession are accompanied by the following image.

Presently, I can not find where it originates and what it has to do with the Petit-Rechain photograph.

Except for those reports, associating it with the avowed hoax and implying that this is the Petit-Rechain picture, I haven't, as yet, found a copy of it anywhere else!

 

[BS3]

This report has Marechal examining what appears to be the 'original' slide, plus others apparently from the same set, at about 1.22 in.

I'm not sure where that second image came from, but perhaps it was a digital mock up created at some point to avoid paying copyright fees on the original? In the days of web based content the quality of image research (along with journalism) seems to have declined, so this has now obviously ended up being put forward as the actual 1990 slide in some cases.

 

[eburacum]

At 4.50 several different versions of the slide can be seen, but they all seem to be different versions of the same slide, each processed in a different way. It looks quite likely that Marechal only created one successful photo and this was processed in various ways afterwards by various interested parties.

The problem is, this was a fruitless exercise; garbage in, garbage out, and no-one could get any useful information from the faked photo.

I think that Mareschal made it resemble a delta-wing aircraft in order to make it more realistic - after all, a perfectly triangular flying object would fly like a brick.

 

[BS3]

With a nod to @BeardSprite 's comments on the Hudson Valley flap, might C-5 planes have been operating over Belgium in this time period?

 

[EnolaGaia]

... Several reports of Maréchal's confession are accompanied by the following image.
Presently, I can not find where it originates and what it has to do with the Petit-Rechain photograph.
Except for those reports, associating it with the avowed hoax and implying that this is the Petit-Rechain picture, I haven't, as yet, found a copy of it anywhere else!

View attachment 55537

According to the caption accompanying this very photo on Wikipedia, it wasn't (allegedly) taken at Petit-Rechain:

A supposed black triangle, 15 June 1990, Wallonia, Belgium. Claimed to have been taken during the UFO wave. A similar photo was taken in Petit-Rechain on 4 April 1990.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_UFO_wave

 

[eburacum]

With a nod to @BeardSprite 's comments on the Hudson Valley flap, might C-5 planes have been operating over Belgium in this time period?

The theories I've heard involved helicopters. I must admit that these theories are not very convincing.

 

[eburacum]

According to the caption accompanying this very photo on Wikipedia, it wasn't (allegedly) taken at Petit-Rechain:

This version includes a witness name and copyright information.

This image was apparently posted online for the first time in 2013, which seems a little odd.

Note that Petit-Rechain is a town in Wallonia.

 

[BS3]

The theories I've heard involved helicopters. I must admit that these theories are not very convincing.

Tim Printy's page on the flap refers to the helicopter theory put forward by Leclet:

http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/Belg.htm

The helicopter idea isn't bad - though I think they'd have to be a fair way off to appear to be 'silent' - but a conventional aircraft (eg a C-5, viewed at a fairly large distance) might explain the light configuration even better.

 

[BS3]

This version includes a witness name and copyright information.

This image was apparently posted online for the first time in 2013, which seems a little odd.

Note that Petit-Rechain is a town in Wallonia.

Doing a bit of Googling I find the suggestion that the photo was first posted in 2003 to a site called "iwasabducted.com" (claiming to have actually been taken in June 1990). As noted above it was made copyright free, which explains its use since that time.

I think we can safely discount it as having any bearing on the Belgian cases.

 

[marhawkman]

hmmm if you scroll back pages in this thread similar pics are in several diffferent pages.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

According to the caption accompanying this very photo on Wikipedia, it wasn't (allegedly) taken at Petit-Rechain:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_UFO_wave

You are, of course, astutely correct!

@eburacum points out:

"Note that Petit-Rechain is a town in Wallonia".

Hence, evidently still some confusion, albeit less than before!

The overall feedback - @BS3 highlighting the conceivable genesis of our photograph which doesn't seem to belong anywhere, yet became associated, is so helpful, regarding same.

Back down the research mines then.

Nearly there....

 

[eburacum]

The second photograph looks so similar that it may well have been made at the same time as the first. The 'delta' shape is apparent in both, although the triangle is pointing in the opposite direction. Most importantly, the object nearly fills the frame, something which is very unlikely to happen in a real photo of an aircraft, and deliberately removes any context from the image.

I think they are either both fakes made by the same person, or the second one is a deliberate and very successful copy of the first.

 

[marhawkman]

The second photograph looks so similar that it may well have been made at the same time as the first. The 'delta' shape is apparent in both, although the triangle is pointing in the opposite direction. Most importantly, the object nearly fills the frame, something which is very unlikely to happen in a real photo of an aircraft, and deliberately removes any context from the image.

I think they are either both fakes made by the same person, or the second one is a deliberate and very successful copy of the first.
View attachment 55662

using MSPaint to rotate the image makes the similarity even more blatant. The right one in yours has the sort of blur effects you can add in post-processing...and they look weird AF, so maybe they are just.. fake looking?

 

[BS3]

For anyone interested in pre-Belgium, pre-Hudson Valley sightings of dark-coloured, triangular objects I stumbled across the following example from 1977 in a BUFORA journal:

 

[Paul_Exeter]

For anyone interested in pre-Belgium, pre-Hudson Valley sightings of dark-coloured, triangular objects I stumbled across the following example from 1977 in a BUFORA journal:

View attachment 58208
View attachment 58209

Fascinating sighting and in shape very similar to the Chris Gibson 1988 oil rig sighting, so was it a black project stealth aircraft...? Military aircraft must at a minimum display a red flashing anti-collision strobe light and I believe this pre-dates 1977:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11255412

...however someone with a greater interest in military aircraft might correct me. Manchester airport had seen its runway extended to accommodate transatlantic jets i.e. 747s in 1969 and new facilities opened in 1974 to facilitate transatlantic flights:

https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/about-us/manchester-airport-and-mag/history/

East Midlands airport was also close by as the jet flies and had all undergone expansion by 1977:

https://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/about-us/east-midlands-airport-and-mag/our-history/

It was late (23.30) but delayed flights might still be arriving plus any other military air traffic. I can't see how even a black project aircraft would be allowed to operate without an anti-collision beacon, so perhaps said beacon wasn't visible to the witness. That leaves those three orange lights on the underside that would not serve to warn other aircraft, so surely they are superfluous and achieve nothing other than to make the aircraft more visible, which is somewhat counterintuitive. Or are they a reflection of streetlights...? Otherwise, it points towards not being one of ours...

 

[Carl Grove]

Fascinating sighting and in shape very similar to the Chris Gibson 1988 oil rig sighting, so was it a black project stealth aircraft...? Military aircraft must at a minimum display a red flashing anti-collision strobe light and I believe this pre-dates 1977:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11255412

...however someone with a greater interest in military aircraft might correct me. Manchester airport had seen its runway extended to accommodate transatlantic jets i.e. 747s in 1969 and new facilities opened in 1974 to facilitate transatlantic flights:

https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/about-us/manchester-airport-and-mag/history/

East Midlands airport was also close by as the jet flies and had all undergone expansion by 1977:

https://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/about-us/east-midlands-airport-and-mag/our-history/

It was late (23.30) but delayed flights mights till be arriving plus any other military air traffic. I can't see how even a black project aircraft would be allowed to operate without an anti-collision beacon, so perhaps said beacon wasn't visible to the witness. That leaves those three orange lights on the underside that would not serve to warn other aircraft, so surely they are superfluous and achieve nothing other than to make the aircraft more visible, which is somewhat counterintuitive. Or are they a reflection of streetlights...? Otherwise, it points towards not being one of ours...

A lot of fascinating info. I suspect that black project aircraft don't worry overmuch about complying with laws governing ordinary aircraft, so it might be such. On the other hand, 1977 does predate most other triangle sightings. It has been suggested that the lights on the underside of these devices are actually part of their propulsion system.

 

[Carl Grove]

For anyone interested in pre-Belgium, pre-Hudson Valley sightings of dark-coloured, triangular objects I stumbled across the following example from 1977 in a BUFORA journal:

View attachment 58208
View attachment 58209

Fascinating early triangle case. I had dropped out of ufology a few years prior to this and I don't recall anything similar to this even in the 1967 wave when a lot of weird things were reported.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I hadn't realised how close RAF Cosford is to this location, also scene of flying triangle reports:

"Can you please provide me with any information you have on record regarding the Cosford UFO Incident, which occurred on 31st of March 1993.

There were dozens of sightings across western Britain of triangular shaped UFOs moving across the sky at speed. Military and Met Office personnel at both RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury including members of the public reported seeing the UFOs."

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/the_1993_cosford_ufo_incident

 

[Carl Grove]

I hadn't realised how close RAF Cosford is to this location, also scene of flying triangle reports:

"Can you please provide me with any information you have on record regarding the Cosford UFO Incident, which occurred on 31st of March 1993.

There were dozens of sightings across western Britain of triangular shaped UFOs moving across the sky at speed. Military and Met Office personnel at both RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury including members of the public reported seeing the UFOs."

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/the_1993_cosford_ufo_incident

It would be interesting to do what NIDs did with US black triangle reports, plot them all on a map and correlate them with military sites.

 

[BS3]

I think the problem with the Tunstall sighting is that some details are quite vague (why "too low" for an aircraft? It's"flying", but what was its speed or apparent path?) as with many reports of this type. The duration and (all too rare) use of binoculars is interesting, though. What particularly interests me is this is apparently well before the 'triangle' shape became part of the public consciousness; look at other reports in the same issue and people were generally interpreting what they saw in terms of disks, cigar shapes, etc.

I note the investigator was Tony Pace, who was local to the area and had quite a high level of astronomical knowledge - including setting up an observatory at Newchapel.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Colin Saunders on Mysteries & Monsters discussing his close-up 1999 triangular UFO on the Fosse Way in Leicestershire:

https://audioboom.com/posts/8300599...fos-in-the-united-kingdom-with-colin-saunders

Highly recommended listening. He has a book out on his sighting and others:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Triangular-United-Kingdom-Colin-Saunders-ebook/dp/B0BPJWQBL1

As an experienced draughtsman he has been able to make detailed models of what he saw:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/man-who-saw-triangle-shaped-8218551

An impressive case and perhaps someone in the UK or US military was kicking themselves that their stealth airship got seen so close to land. However, with my skeptical hat on there are some inconsistencies in what the witnesses reported and he is now a die-hard believer in extra-dimensional aliens, so there may have been some embellishments creep in over the years. Also can he rule out night-time vegetable harvesting? This took place at night in the heart of arable country and modern combine harvesters are brightly lit by multiple lights and the object wasn't seen actually flying but rather "close to the ground":

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/potato-harvest-on-p-e-i

[Scroll down to image of night harvesting']

Edit: Have reached end of podcast and have to also say that he seems rather easily influenced by UFO trends and TV shows (for example he thinks he is telepathic as per that Rendlesham witness and his binary code claims)

 

[joeosker]

Colin Saunders on Mysteries & Monsters discussing his close-up 1999 triangular UFO on the Fosse Way in Leicestershire:

https://audioboom.com/posts/8300599...fos-in-the-united-kingdom-with-colin-saunders

Highly recommended listening. He has a book out on his sighting and others:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Triangular-United-Kingdom-Colin-Saunders-ebook/dp/B0BPJWQBL1

As an experienced draughtsman he has been able to make detailed models of what he saw:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/man-who-saw-triangle-shaped-8218551

An impressive case and perhaps someone in the UK or US military was kicking themselves that their stealth airship got seen so close to land. However, with my skeptical hat on there are some inconsistencies in what the witnesses reported and he is now a die-hard believer in extra-dimensional aliens, so there may have been some embellishments creep in over the years. Also can he rule out night-time vegetable harvesting? This took place at night in the heart of arable country and modern combine harvesters are brightly lit by multiple lights and the object wasn't seen actually flying but rather "close to the ground":

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/potato-harvest-on-p-e-i

[Scroll down to image of night harvesting']

Edit: Have reached end of podcast and have to also say that he seems rather easily influenced by UFO trends and TV shows (for example he thinks he is telepathic as per that Rendlesham witness and his binary code claims)

Beats swamp gas or Venus I suppose :0) his book is quite good

 

[Victory]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...FO-hovers-California-military-base-video.html

 

[eburacum]

Curiously enough, this triangle appeared on the same day as a training exercise that involved five parachute flares in the same area; they looked like this (night vision image, therefore green). Note the trails of smoke from the flares.

 

[Sid]

Curiously enough, this triangle appeared on the same day as a training exercise that involved five parachute flares in the same area; they looked like this (night vision image, therefore green). Note the trails of smoke from the flares.
View attachment 66388

Would flares ever show up as appearing to be red I wonder? As one's I've seen in the past, at a good distance, have either been orange, or white light?

 

[maximus otter]

Would flares ever show up as appearing to be red I wonder? As one's I've seen in the past, at a good distance, have either been orange, or white light?

Red is available:

"Parachute flares come in four colors: white (M583/A1), green (M661), red (M662), and orange (XM695)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_40_mm_grenades#Signalling_and_illumination_cartridges

(This is admittedly for flares launched from 40mm systems; it demonstrates, however, that red is possible.)

maximus otter