The Belgium flap:

The Belgium flap

September 17, 2002.

I live the area of Verviers, the geographical center of this flap, I confirm the thousands of witnesses. Several people of my knowledge saw these triangles, sometimes very close (just at rooftops).

For those who were interested in the phenomenon, the atmos was exceptionl. I remember going to the plate of Haute Fagnes following the call by a local radio. I unfortunately arrived too late for the display; but there were more than one hundred people and the excitation was indescribable: 2 craft had circled during a good half an hour at the top of the lake of Gilleppe. The whole ended in the appearance-disappearance of an enormous orange sphere. This case is reported in the first book by the Sobeps on the flap.

What astonished me during all this period, was the difference in reaction in the population. Almost everyone knew somebody who had been a witness of the phenomenon. One bathed in full mystery and the Press did not say much.

Some people were curious, others could not care less; but there was quite a number of people who were obviously afraid. They jumped on the least newspaper article which de-dramatized the affair so that they could finally be laugh at the crackpots who believed in the "little green men."

These people had really the jitter and verbally assaulted all those who raised questions. The debunkers were numerous, it was not the Belgian army nor the CIA, it was Mister Everyone. I remember that scouts had made a fireworks and had disguised as Martians, a newspaper made an article about it, what a relief, all was explained.

It is difficult to draw up a standard portrait of this kind of panickers; but when they had scientific training, they believed they were automatically obliged to protect human thought from any worrying deviance.

It is in this contexte that the reactions of Marc Hallet and some scientists of the University of Liege can be understand [see the article on this wesite: the Begium anti-flap].