Belgian UFO Wave

The UFO incident with credible witnesses and evidence, and, most of all, government transparency

Name	Belgian UFO Wave
Occurred on	November 1989 – April 1990
Seen by	Gendarmes Heinrich Nicoll and Hubert Von Montigny, along with thousands of civilians and officials
Investigated by	Belgian Air Force and SOBEPS

The Belgian UFO wave is one of the world’s well-documented UFO events. The fact that officers and civilians all had the same description of the unknown craft made this a credible UFO event. Furthermore, the Belgian government and military disclosed their investigations and findings to the public, an action deeply appreciated by its citizens and the UFO/UAP community. 

What Is the Belgian UFO Wave About?

The Belgian UFO wave is a series of UFO sightings that happened all over Eupen, Belgium, from November 29, 1989, to sometime in April 1990.

On the Night of November 29, 1989

This UFO incident was first reported by gendarmes Heinrich Nicoll and Hubert Von Montigny during a routine patrol. They described the unknown craft as triangular, about 30 meters long on each side, moving silently with lights at each corner and a flickering red light at its center.

The same night, 143 sightings were reported in and around Eupen, including at least 13 from other gendarmes. The Belgian Air Force estimated that only one in ten witnesses would report a sighting, suggesting the actual number could have been closer to 1,500. More sightings were reported in the following weeks.

On the Night of March 30, 1990

The peak of the Belgian UFO wave occurred on March 30, 1990. Just moments before this, NATO’s tracking station picked up an unknown craft on radar. The Belgian Air Force then sent two F-16s to investigate.

The pilots soon locked onto the object with their radar, but they couldn’t get close. The unknown craft was moving at extraordinary speeds, even faster than the speed of sound. In just five seconds, the craft rapidly climbed from 7,000 to 10,000 feet, then dropped to 500 feet while accelerating at over 1,000 miles per hour. 

Maj. Gen. Wilfried de Brouwer, Chief of Operations of the Belgian Air Force, who led the investigation of the sightings, stated:

The data, then, on all these performances which were registered during the lock-on of the radar, it was totally outside of the normal performance envelope of any airplane.

Corroborations and Witnesses of the UFO Belgian Wave Incident

The Belgian wave UFO incident was seen by many civilians and members of the government and military, including:

Heinrich Nicoll and Hubert Von Montigny

Gendarmes Nicoll and Montigny recalled that as they approached the crossroad at Nuevos Road, they noticed something unusual. A nearby field was brightly illuminated, as if lit up like a massive football field. 

Curious about the light, they got closer and saw a large triangular platform floating in the air. Strong headlights shone from beneath it, and a blinking, pulsating red light glowed at its center.

They immediately contacted their dispatcher, Albert Creutz, to report this incident.

Albert Creutz

When dispatcher Albert Creutz first received the report, he jokingly told Nicoll and Montigny that it might be Santa Claus trying to land. But he logged the sighting nonetheless. Some time later, however, he noticed an unusual light flashing past his window.

Looking out, he saw a strange craft hovering about 500 feet away. It resembled a large ship floating in the air. The craft drifted in front of him for a few seconds before flying off in the direction of La Calamine. He later described it as a beautiful and surreal sight.

Now convinced by what Nicoll and Montigny had reported, Creutz contacted nearby airports to check for unusual aerial activity. None had detected anything out of the ordinary.

Deiter Plumanns

Just minutes after Creutz’s, two other gendarmes in La Calamine reported seeing the same craft. One of them, Deiter Plumanns, admitted that at first, they assumed their colleagues were joking about the flying object. But once they witnessed it for themselves, their skepticism quickly faded.

Plumanns had an overwhelming sense of unease as the mysterious craft appeared overhead. It defied explanation. He and his partner briefly considered whether it might be an American aircraft, but they couldn’t identify it. Whatever it was, it was real, and it was right above them.

Lt. Col. André Amond and His Wife

While driving through the countryside, Lt. Col. André Amond and his wife spotted a strange object in the sky. They described it as three illuminated panels floating above a pulsating red light. Curious, they stopped the car for a closer look. As they did, the object was now within 100 meters of them, looking like a large, bright spotlight.

Moments later, it turned, and the three lights became visible on its underside, forming a triangle around the central red light. Then, without warning, it accelerated rapidly and vanished into the night sky.

At no point did either of them see any visible structure supporting the lights, adding to the mystery of what they had witnessed.

Mr. H and His Wife

On July 26, 1990, a couple driving through Grace-Hollogne encountered a hovering triangular object in the sky. It had illuminated white stripes along two of its edges, with spotlights shining down from each corner. At its center, red and green lights blinked intermittently.

The husband, who chose to remain anonymous and was referred to as “Mr. H,” flashed his headlights twice out of curiosity and to see if the flying object would respond. Instantly, two white lights at the base of the triangle turned toward their car, then blinked off and on three times in succession.

The craft then moved closer, maintaining a distance of about 100 meters, and began following them as they drove. It kept a steady pace and held a consistent distance above the sloping terrain, almost as if tracking their movement. This made the couple increasingly uneasy. Finally, the craft abruptly accelerated and disappeared in the direction of Grace-Hollogne.

Investigations and Explanations

The Belgian UFO wave led to around 2,000 reports of unexplained aerial activity. This prompted the Belgian Air Force to become actively involved, as it was its duty to the public to determine what was happening.

Maj. Gen. Wilfried de Brouwer led the investigation. He had the Belgian Air Force work with the Société Belge D’étude des Phénomènes Spatiaux (SOBEPS; Belgian Society for the Study of Space Phenomena) to gather and analyze evidence.

Together, they looked into 650 reports, of which 500 remained unexplained. They concluded that unknown crafts were flying in Belgium’s airspace that couldn’t be linked to any known aircraft. Even Air Force pilots couldn’t get a visual on these crafts, and so their origins remained a mystery.

The Petit-Rechain Photograph and Its Controversy

It was said that on April 4, 1990, a couple in Petit-Rechain took the now-famous photo of a triangular object hovering near their home. The photo was sent to experts at the French National Space Research Center and the Belgian Royal Military Academy for analysis.

When the photo was overexposed, a triangular shape became visible beneath the lights. Later analysis also revealed a glowing halo around the object, suggesting the presence of a magnetic field. 

At the time, they didn’t find signs of tampering.

Was It a Hoax?

Skeptics doubted the photo’s authenticity for years. Their suspicions were confirmed when a man named Patrick Maréchal came forward and admitted it was a hoax.

On July 26, 2011, Maréchal revealed how he created the image using a piece of styrofoam cut into a triangle, painted black, with flashlights placed at each corner. He hung it with a string and photographed it as a prank for his coworkers. He even shared previously unseen images showing how he set up the fake UFO.

If this is true, the Petit-Rechain photograph would be a closed case, and that means one less mystery for the Belgian UFO wave.

Belgian UFO Wave’s Significance in Ufology

Many in the UFO/UAP community still revisit the Belgian UFO wave because of the mark it has left in Ufology.

For the first time, the government and the military openly shared their investigation and findings with the public (an action that other governments should follow). The military even worked closely with a civilian UFO research group, SOBEPS, in investigating these sightings.

Lending credibility to this incident were the thousands of witnesses, including gendarmes, military personnel, and radar operators, who saw the same unknown craft. The solid radar data obtained by NATO and the F-16s further supported the claims.

FAQs

Why do researchers still talk about the Belgian UFO Wave?

UFO researchers want to understand the origin of the Belgian UFO wave. The fact that the official report stated the investigation resulted in unknown findings makes them more eager to delve deeper into it.

Why is the Belgian UFO Wave considered credible?

The detailed eyewitness accounts and corresponding radar data made the Belgian UFO wave credible.