Key facts
- When
- November 1989 – 1990
- Where
- Belgium, starting around Eupen
- Scale
- Hundreds of witness reports, collected largely by the group SOBEPS
- Key event
- F-16 scramble on the night of 30–31 March 1990
It started in Eupen
On 29 November 1989 two gendarmes near Eupen reported a large triangular craft with lights. Many similar reports followed in the region that evening and in the months afterwards.
The F-16 night
On the night of 30–31 March 1990, after radar contacts and visual reports, two Belgian Air Force F-16s were scrambled and recorded several brief radar locks. The air force openly shared information about the event – unusual at the time. Later analyses have attributed the radar data to artefacts and atmospheric effects.
The famous photo was a hoax
The best-known image of the wave, a triangle photographed at Petit-Rechain in April 1990, was admitted in 2011 by its creator to be a model. Many eyewitness reports, however, remain without a definitive explanation.
Questions
Did Belgian F-16s chase a UFO?
F-16s were scrambled and recorded radar locks, but the pilots never saw an object, and the radar data have since been attributed to technical artefacts.
Is the Belgian triangle photo real?
No. The Petit-Rechain photo was revealed in 2011 to be a hoax made with a model.