The article below was published in the daily newspaper L'Union, Reims, France, on August 13, 1998.
After the testimonies of David and Olivier about an unidentified flying object flying over the Sedan region on Monday night, we could ask ourselves questions.
But, more than 130 other testimonies converge on the same description of the craft, in all the Ardennes, as well as near Carignan, as Charleville.
A dozen people observed a plane, with the wings clearly visible. But, it is a second phenomenon, quickly explained thanks to a very clear sky on Monday night. Some people are probably already thinking of other examples, then explained by the flight of a zeppelin.
But, Jean-Luc Lemaire, president of the Ardennes section of the Centre d'Etudes OVNI France, is affirmative on this question: "It is not a zeppelin! The type of lights observed is different. A zeppelin has position lights and indicators at the bottom at the level of the fuselage, and at the top at the level of the balloon. The speed too: the zeppelin goes much slower, and makes noise, like a lawnmower. And that, when there are other planes! So when the traffic is calm... Nothing to do with the very dull sound that all the witnesses heard. Finally, the observed object made changes of direction at right angles, which a zeppelin cannot do."
At the Belval airfield, no one confirms the presence of a zeppelin or a flight plan of this type that night. Finally, all the testimonies speak of a flat, triangular object with rounded corners. Far from the general description of a zeppelin, namely an oval balloon.
So, the object has still not been identified. However, David and Olivier, still eager to know what they were dealing with on Monday evening, settled in a field, in Floing with C, a friend, who wished to remain anonymous. It was Tuesday evening, with their snacks and mineral water, they waited from 10pm to 2am.
"The sky was clear. We saw airliners with their very recognizable lights (yellow anti-crash light and red and green flashing lights at the back), there were also satellites. That allowed us to see the difference. We could hear the object," notes David. And, before midnight, they saw these two headlights again, without any noise, crossing the sky very high and very quickly.
"What's strange is that a dog further away started howling to death at the second and last passage, comments C. While there was really no audible noise. It may be a coincidence, but I was really scared..." This luminous phenomenon has since been reported by other witnesses.
The question still arises: What is flying in the Sedan sky?
Delphine Adam
