◆ SpookStack

surprised by the crew’s question that he suspects an oxygen problem capable of causing a “hallucination.” “Assailant Al” maintained its course towards the Mirage IV. P initiated a bank to the right toward Al, a bank which he was forced to keep tightening (3 to 4 g) in order to try to maintain visual contact on Al and to keep it from positioning itself to the rear. Despite this maneuver, Al moved behind the Mirage IV at an estimated distance of 1500 m. At this point P reversed his bank to regain visual contact on Al. He saw the glow move away to “11 o’clock.” He resumed course to Luxeuil. But 45 seconds after he resumed course to Luxeuil, feeling like he was being “watched” according to his own words, P told N, “you wait and see, it’s going to come back.” And in fact, an identical glow, which we will call A2, appeared at “3 o’clock.” P then initiated a very tight bank (6.5 g) to disengage his aircraft from what he now considered to be a real threat. The glow followed the Mirage IV’s maneuver in order to position itself to the rear at an estimated distance of 2000 m. P reversed, as before, and once again saw the glow disappear under the same conditions. C still did not have a radar contact on “assailant A2.” P and N continued their flight and returned normally to the Luxeuil base. Those are the facts. Two points should be emphasized: - only a combat aircraft could have had performance comparable to that of Al and A2 (speed, maneuverability). In this case, C would have had a radar contact on this aircraft, especially at that altitude, a contact that he would have seen all the better since there was no other traffic in the vicinity of the Mirage IV. " - given the apparent maneuvers of Al and A2, regardless of whether or not they were the same craft, their speed could only be supersonic, which, in the case of combat aircraft, would be manifested on the ground by a very loud sonic boom due to the phenomenon of the focusing of the shock wave generated by the bank. This would have been noticed in the surrounding area, especially since it was nighttime. But no sound was heard in the region. 1.2 Testimony of a Fighter Pilot (March 3, 1976) Since this pilot (P) wanted to preserve his anonymity, the following lines are extracted from the written deposition that he wished to send to us (he revealed his name subsequently; he is Colonel Claude Bosc). On March 3, 1976, P, then a student pilot at the Combat Flight School at Tours, was making a solo night flight in a T-33 training aircraft. The mission consisted of navigating at an altitude of 6000 m following a Rennes- Nantes-Poitiers itinerary, then landing at Tours. Several aircraft were following the same itinerary at 5-minute intervals. The night was dark but cloudless, and the towns could be detected very clearly at the flight altitude in question. Visibility was greater than 100 km. While he was flying stabilized at an altitude of 6000 m, at a speed of 460 km/h, P first saw straight ahead, very far off in the distance (at the detection limit of lights on the ground) what he at first thought was the launching of a green signaling flare. In 1 to 2 seconds, this flare exceeded the altitude of his aircraft by 1500 m and seemed to level off in space before descending in his direction. It approached at a dizzying speed on a Collision course with the aircraft and filled the entire front windshield of the cockpit. Thinking that impact was inevitable, P let go of the joystick and crossed his arms in front of his face in a reflex protection gesture. The aircraft was completely enveloped in a very bright and phosphorescent green light. P saw a sphere (S) that avoided his aircraft at the ‘ mee H&E a tes fant