Article: France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years

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physical_sciences , "Robert Karl Stonjek"< stonjek wrote: France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years This 1972 photo from the US Air Force shows a space probe after a testflight in New Mexico. France has become the first country to open itsfiles on UFOs when the national space agency unveiled a websitedocumenting more than 1,600 sightings spanning five decades. France became the first country to open its files on UFOs Thursdaywhen the national space agency unveiled a website documenting morethan 1,600 sightings spanning five decades. The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported,catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed toa handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists. "It is a world first," said Jacques Patenet, the aeronautical engineerwho heads the office for the study of "non-identified aerospatialphenomena." Known as OVNIs in French, UFOs have always generated intense interestalong with countless conspiracy theories about secretive governmentcover-ups of findings deemed too sensitive or alarming for publicconsumption. "Cases such as the lady who reported seeing an object that looked likea flying roll of toilet paper" are clearly not worth investigating,said Patenet. But many others involving multiple sightings -- in at least one caseinvolving thousands of people across France -- and evidence such asburn marks and radar trackings showing flight patterns oraccelerations that defy the laws of physics are taken very seriously. A phalanx of beefy security guards formed a barrier in front of thespace agency (CNES) headquarters where the announcement was made, "toscreen out uninvited UFOlogists," an official explained. Of the 1,600 cases registered since 1954, nearly 25 percent areclassified as "type D", meaning that "despite good or very good dataand credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can'texplain," Patenet said. On January 8, 1981 outside the town of Trans-en-Provence in southernFrance, for example, a man working in a field reported hearing astrange whistling sound and seeing a saucer-like object about 2.5meters (eight feet) in diameter land in his field about 50 meters(yards) away. A dull-zinc grey, the saucer took off, he told police, almostimmediately, leaving burn marks. Investigators took photos, and thencollected and analyzed samples, and to this day no satisfactoryexplanation has been made. The nearly 1,000 witness who said they saw flashing lights in the skyon November 5, 1990, by contrast, had simply seen a rocket fragmentfalling back into earth's atmosphere. Patenet's answer to questions about evidence of life beyond Earth wassure to inflame the suspicions of those convinced the government isholding back: "We do not have the least proof that extra-terrestrialsare behind the unexplained phenomena." But then he added: "Nor do we have the least proof that they aren't." The CNES fields between 50 and 100 UFO reports every year, usuallywritten up by police. Of these, 10 percent are the object of on-siteinvestigations, Patenet said. Other countries collect data more or less systematically aboutunidentified flying objects, notably in Britain and in the UnitedStates, where information can be requested on a case-by-case basisunder the Freedom of Information Act. "But we decided to do it the other way around and made everythingavailable to the public," Patenet said. The aim was to make it easier for scientists and other UFO buffs toaccess the data for research. The website itself -- which crashed host servers hours after it wasunveiled due to heavy traffic -- is extremely well organised andcomplete, even including scanned copies of police reports. To visit the website: http://www.cnes-geipan.fr Source: AFPhttp://www.physorg.com/news93780011.html Posted byRobert Karl Stonjek «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»Paranormal_Research - Scientific Data, Health Conspiracies & Anything Strange Paranormal_ResearchSubscribe:... Paranormal_Research-