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The representatives of UFO-Norge decided to wait a bit, just to let the commotion fade before the real analysis could be initiated. Our organization was in this case especially obliged to make use of our connections, in order to prove to the public that this movie wasn't just another elaborated fake, made by a person desperately seeking attention.

Financial support

In the meantime, the advertising company TED BATES located in Oslo became interested in the case, and took a serious view of the observation and the movie. They were willing to support the analysis economically, and the cooperation between UFO-Norge and this firm ran very smoothly from the beginning. However, their further involvement in the case depended somewhat on a positive response from their foreign business associates, the German publishing house Springer-Verlag. A couple of months after the initial contact with TED BATES, some of the preliminary results from the ongoing investigation raised doubts about the phenomena being bona fide UFOs. Although the matter is still unresolved, these indications at that time precluded further direct economical support from this source.

Further analysis of the movie

There still remain some aspects of the case which have not been fully investigated. However, one of the first things we did with the movie, was to show it to a panel of selected experts at the Norwegian Industry Research Institute (NIRI) in Oslo. The members were very impressed, especially when the recording was replayed on a large TV-screen. A short time afterwards, on 17 October 1986 the video was presented to another panel of experts, namely researchers at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE), with whom UFO-Norge had a close cooperation in connection with Project Hessdalen (which is presented in several recent issues of this magazine). Principal investigator from the project, Mr. Erling Strand showed the video, together with the main witness, Mr. Tonning. The audience became very interested, and several proposals were made for further research. The next steps should include thorough investigation regarding the astronomical situation during the observation (the positions of stars, planets etc.) together with any possible connections to airplanes and/or satellites. Former, preliminary analyses should be reconsidered, being systematically compiled into the new mass of data.

Investigations by GSW

During the first months of 1987, the movie was sent to extensive analysis at Ground Saucer Watch (GSW) in the USA. Mr. Paul Norman, of the Australian-based Victorian UFO Research Society, kindly took the responsibility of a personal delivery from UFO-Norge to the GSW. During the summer of this year, the movie was analyzed with the help of electronic image processing, in the way that has made GSW a leading organization in this field.

Some information had to be collected to enhance the validity of their analysis; among them a thorough documentation of the weather situation in the area at the actual point of time. UFO-Norge representative, Mr. Odd-Gunnar Roed, made inquiries of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Oslo; they responded by sending computer printouts generated by two automatic weather stations near Torpo, together with general information. The papers showed that the weather conditions on the observing date were fairly good; a cloud base of some 1500-2500 meters, varying in extent from 1/8 (a sunny, almost clear sky) during the evening of 12 July to 8/8 (completely overcast) the morning of 13 July. Visibility (underneath the clouds) was 75 kilometers or more. Together with other parameters, the data show that the phenomena very probably were seen underneath the clouds, which makes possible approximate estimates regarding their altitude and, indirectly, their distance.

Astronomically, a review of existing sources shows that the sun set