Status: Corroborated as a documented event (radar, a Belgian Air Force report) — but skeptics attribute many reports to helicopters, radar artifacts and a hoax photograph.
The Belgian UFO wave lasted from November 29, 1989 to April 1990. It began in the city of Eupen, and reports described a large, flat triangular craft with lights underneath, flying at low altitude. In total, 143 people claimed to have seen an object, though most of those reports were submitted more than a week after the event and after media coverage. Skeptic Brian Dunning argues the original report matches a Bell UH-1 helicopter.
The wave peaked on the night of March 30, 1990. The Control Reporting Center at Glons received reports of three unusual lights, and radar at Semmerzake tracked an object. Two Belgian Air Force F-16s were scrambled from Beauvechain and made nine interception attempts over an hour, obtaining radar locks for a few seconds on three occasions. Neither pilot saw anything. The Air Force released a detailed report of the night.
A widely published black triangular photograph from April 1990, the “Petit-Rechain photo,” was later said by Patrick Maréchal to be a hoax. Dunning suggests the radar locks were the jets locking onto each other and that other contacts were caused by Bragg scattering, an atmospheric effect. The wave is still cited as one of the best-known UFO episodes in Europe.
Sources: Wikipedia: Belgian UFO wave
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