SOBEPS gives this information:
In Battice, at approximately 07:00 p.m., through her kitchen window, Mrs. B. first saw two large dazzling lights, they were so close to the ground that she initially thought it was a lorry, but there is no road there.
Gradually, she discerned a large dark mass and realized with her son that it was a flying object.
It made a turn that led it right in their direction, and they turned off the kitchen light and saw that it was a triangular object with rounded corners.
It was flying very low, slowly and silently. When it passed over their house, its size was such that it would cover two twin houses.
They then discerned many small yellow lights on the front of the craft's underside, “They look like little stars.”
Source:
Another report, in the Flying Saucer Review, indicates for this observation:
At Battice, between 1850 and 1900 hrs, Mme Patricia Barbieux saw, towards her right, and coming from the North, big, very dazzling lights. These did a leftward turn, and arrived right above the lady, and simultaneously, they “went out”. All that she was now able to see above her was a vaguely triangular dark mass, with some small lights (“like fireflies”) at its centre. Then it moved away, towards the East.
The magazine publishes this sketch of what was seen:
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Source:
There is a summary for this observation, published on the web by the Belgian ufologist Godelieve Van Overmeire in her catalog circa 1999, now gone, but much copied by UFO websites and forums. This summary is as follows:
1989, November 29
BELGIUM, Battice
At about 7 p.m. Mrs. B. observed a triangle with lighted dots on its underside. Through her kitchen window she first sees two big dazzling headlights. They are so close to the ground she first thinks of a truck, but there is no road at this place. Gradually she discerns a large dark mass and realizes, with her son, it is a flying object. It makes a turn which leads towards them. She turned off the light in the kitchen and see that it is a triangular object with rounded corners. It flies very low, slowly and silently. When it flies above their home its size is such that it would cover two twin houses. They then discern many small yellow lights on the underside of the craft “it looks like little stars.” Around the object there were small red light dots. They moved independently “like fireflies.” (VOB 1 - SOBEPS 1991, p. 32)
Source example:
| 06:40 p.m. | |
| 06:50 p.m. | |
| 07:00 p.m. | |
| 07:10 p.m. |
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Above:: localization of Battice (green dot) relative to Eupen and Verviers.
I looked for the “UFO-skeptic” explanations for this case. There is none. As with most other reports of that night, it is not cited and not commented.
In particular, in the 2005 “study” by French skeptic Renaud Leclet who proposed many or most of the sightings were caused by various sorts of helicopters, there is no mention of this sighting.
Maybe this sighting was discarded from the skeptical UFO literature because it does not fit enough a helicopter, Venus, a plane, a balloon, or any of the other things “UFO-skeptics” propose to “explain the Belgium UFO flap.”
Among the characteristics in this sighting report, we can list some that appeared in other reports there that night:
We also have a size estimate. One may argue that it is an erroneous estimate, but it is quite uncommon that a helicopter, for instance, would be estimated by anyone to be as large as to cover two win houses.
| Version: | Created/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 9, 2013 | Creation. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 9, 2013 | First publication. |
