The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Dépêche du Midi, France, on August 14, 1998.
A triangular-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO) moving at low altitude above the region of Sedan and Carignan (Ardennes) was observed by at least 150 people at the beginning of the week, according to Jean-Luc Lemaire, the departmental head of the UFO Study Center France.
"During the night from Monday to Tuesday, it was first seen at high altitude then in a descending phase vertically above Charleville-Mézières before carrying out reconnaissance rounds over around thirty localities in Sedanais," he said.
"Our association has so far received some 150 testimonies and we have a short film shot that night by two young amateur videographers," Mr. Lemaire said. "The craft, a large triangle with rounded edges and a point turned in the direction of travel, has two red luminous points at the rear and a large white one at the front. These lights do not flash. Two condensation trails are visible at the rear of the UFO flying at an altitude of around 500 m," he added.
"We have little information to assess the speed of the craft, which according to several witnesses had a dull noise," continued Mr. Lemaire.
"It was observed between midnight and two in the morning and some witnesses had the impression that it was playing hide-and-seek," assured the head of the association whose head office is in Marseille. "It circled slowly over populated areas as if it were on a spy mission, then moved away before repeating its maneuver over another location," he added. "It eventually disappeared behind a hill and has not been seen since," Lemaire said.
According to him, it cannot be a stealth plane, because of the low-altitude circular flight, nor a meteorite because the flight was also horizontal, nor a comet much higher and fixed in the sky, nor a helicopter or a known plane because of a dull noise strange enough to excite the curiosity of many people.
"We are left with several hypotheses such as an optical illusion or the flight of a military prototype out of zone," Lemaire continued. "The flight was following a West-East trajectory and we would like to know if this UFO was observed on the West coast of France or if it crossed the Atlantic," he said. "To this end, potential witnesses can contact us in Charleville-Mézières at 03.24.59.08.42."
