In France, many people associate space phenomena with the development of new weapons
About the author: Vladimir Timofeevich Roshchupkin is a candidate of political sciences.
Recently, the French National Center for Space Research (CNES) released four hundred previously classified files on unidentified flying objects. This is a quarter of all data on contacts with space aliens recorded by CNES employees over the past 50 years and containing previously classified information. So now every person who is fond of ufology issues can find interesting information on the center's website and, after conducting his own analysis, talk about the presence or absence of extraterrestrial life.
UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
In France, attention to UFOs at the official level was first shown back in the mid-fifties of the twentieth century, when the country's Ministry of Defense began collecting and systematizing messages about extraterrestrial objects. In the early seventies, the task of collecting information about the appearance of UFOs was assigned to the national gendarmerie. It was then that each French gendarme was given a special questionnaire to interview people who witnessed such cases.
The Group for the Study and Collection of Information on Unidentified Space Phenomena (GEIPAN) was created in France in 1977. It became the first and, possibly, the only state-owned UFO research organization in the West. GEIPAN receives data from the gendarmerie, police, army, air force, navy and civil aviation. The analysis of these messages was carried out by experts from the above group: psychologists, astronomers, meteorologists, specialists in atmospheric physics, balloons and probes, as well as in space technologies.
For some time, GEIPAN included rapid response teams, a group for analyzing traces, collecting and processing primary information. Currently, GEIPAN is engaged in drawing up reports based on the testimony of witnesses who saw UFOs, archiving interviews, and also looking for possible scientific explanations for phenomena of extraterrestrial origin. Its representative, Jacques Patene, called the declassified dossiers on unidentified flying objects "a world premiere," according to Agence France-Presse. French ufologists were assured that no exemptions from the case would be made. And that all available information about UFOs is cataloged and registered - provided with detailed (sometimes minute-by-minute) descriptions, and often photographs. But for all that, the names of specific eyewitnesses have been removed from the documents posted on the site.
Since 1977, dossiers of approximately 1.6 thousand UFO sightings have appeared in the archives of the National Center for Space Research. However, according to experts, for the most part it is about "absolutely normal natural phenomena, misinterpreted by observers." Representatives of CNES said that after a while, the site will post photographs and videos that have recorded contacts of people with unidentified flying objects.
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Why did CNES decide to open its archives? According to the staff of the center, the "world premiere" should attract the attention of not only those who are interested in UFOs, but also the entire international scientific community to the problem of ufology. Indeed, some cases remain real mysteries, which to this day defy any scientific explanation. French experts classify them as "category D aerospace phenomena", that is, "unexplained due to inaccurate observations and insufficient quality of material evidence."
OBJECT ON A PEASANT FIELD
Behind such unexplained phenomena, according to French researchers, genuine scientific revolutions may be hidden. At the same time, scientists emphasize, many of the "eyewitness reports" who allegedly saw UFOs are nothing more than a deliberate falsification. Many French citizens who saw some strange objects or phenomena simply became victims of delusion, because what they observed has a completely rational explanation. For example, on November 5, 1990, about a thousand people recorded bright flashes of light in the sky over France, mistaken for UFOs. In July 2007, the author of these lines himself observed a similar phenomenon, being in the south of France, in the Lyon region. A friend of mine, amateur astronomer Bernard Chevalier, gave me the opportunity to monitor the flares through his fairly powerful amateur telescope, although they were visible to the naked eye. But,as it turned out later, they turned out to be traces of combustion in the dense layers of the atmosphere of the falling parts of the spacecraft.
Sometimes one comes across extremely vague, unreliable information about UFOs. It is clear that cases like “say that one woman saw an object that resembled a flying roll of toilet paper,” no one will take seriously, noted Jacques Patene. But there are messages of another kind. For example, the phenomena that have been observed by thousands of people throughout France; or phenomena officially recorded and filmed on video and cameras, such as burning lights. Finally, there is radar readings about objects flying in violation of all physical laws known to us. Nevertheless, these and other similar facts must be taken seriously, says Monsieur Patene.
In total, French ufologists classify no less than a quarter of UFO sightings recorded since 1954 into the "serious" category (or the above-mentioned category D). In their opinion, these are credible and documented facts for which no explanation has yet been found. Well, how, for example, to perceive the incident that occurred on January 8, 1981 near the town of Trans-en-Provence in the south of France?
While working in his field, a local peasant suddenly heard a strange whistling sound. He raised his head and saw an unusual, dish-like object of lead-gray color with a diameter of about 2.5 m. The UFO went down and sank down only fifty meters from the peasant. Then, after standing for some time on the ground, the mysterious object soared into the sky and disappeared. Of course, this story could be questioned, explaining the rise of the object by the rise of the farmer's imagination, warmed up by an extra glass of good local wine. It would have been possible if … not for the scorched areas of the surface of the field on which the peasant worked.
As soon as the flying saucer left the field, the terrified farmer called the police to death. Law enforcement officers rushed along with photographers and experts. The scorched plots of land were carefully filmed and samples were taken from them. Experts did not find any traces of falsification, but so far they have not found any explanation for the phenomenon either.
As for the general public, in France, many tend to associate UFOs not with aliens, but rather with the development of new types of weapons. And all the hype around the "little green men", the French suspect, is nothing more than a trick of the authorities, designed to divert public opinion from a promising weapon of destructive power.
But what about the main question - about the possibility of extraterrestrial life? It still remains open. Scientists have not yet been able to draw a clear conclusion about this, French experts admit. Nevertheless, local scientists themselves proceed from the fact that "there is not the slightest proof of the absence of extraterrestrial civilizations." This is the position of French researchers.
WITHDRAWAL OF THE BRITISH MILITARY
And if we are talking about collecting information and analyzing the UFO phenomenon, then it should be said that this is done not only in France, but also in many other countries of the world. Particular attention is paid to this problem in the United States and Great Britain. But there you can find out about a particular case only upon a specific request submitted on the basis of freedom of information laws. As a rule, the American and British authorities issue it extremely sparingly.
However, there are exceptions. So, in May 2006, the Ministry of Defense of Foggy Albion released a secret report on the impact of the phenomenon of flying saucers on the country's defense. The text of a nearly 500-page document entitled "UFOs in United Kingdom Airspace" was posted on the website of the British military. The authors of the report, whose names were not disclosed, in fact, completely refute the theory of the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.
The British military made a similar conclusion after four years of research. Specifically, it says the following: "… there is no reason to believe that the phenomena observed by people are hostile or are under control other than the influence of natural physical forces." Another important conclusion of specialists: "… the theory of the existence of dense objects that could pose a danger of collision in the air has not been confirmed."
According to British researchers, people most often mistake meteorites and other unexplained natural phenomena for UFOs, less often - balloons, airplanes and flocks of birds. Finally, scientists believe, eyewitnesses deliberately and unintentionally distort information about allegedly seen flying saucers and aliens. According to British scientists, the same atmospheric phenomena, such as proximity to a plasma field and the effect of electromagnetic waves, can contribute to the unintentional distortion of information.
And what is the summary of the report? Ironically, the British military does not consider it necessary to continue further research on UFOs due to "the lack of convincing evidence of their existence."
According to the logic of the British Ministry of Defense, the existing UFO database, it would seem, could be safely declassified as unnecessary. But it was not there. Unlike the French, the British, known for their rationalism and logic, never did. And apparently, they do not intend to do this yet.
Lyon-Paris-Moscow
