The photograph that defined Belgium's UFO wave was staged by the man who took it
A photograph of a black triangle with four lights became the emblem of the Belgian wave. Two decades later the photographer said he had made it with polystyrene and paint.
- Location
- Petit-Rechain, Liège, Belgium
- Date
- 4 April 1990
- Continent
- Europe
No footage is attached to this case. The record here rests on testimony and reporting rather than film.
What the record shows
The image shows a dark triangular shape against a night sky, with three bright lights at its corners and one at its centre. It was analysed repeatedly over twenty years, and several of those analyses reported features that were said to be difficult to fake, including apparent variation in the light sources.
What witnesses and officials say
In 2011 the photographer, who had remained anonymous and was known publicly as Patrick M., stated on Belgian television that he had made the object from a sheet of polystyrene, painted it, and lit it with lamps, and that he had done it as a joke that ran away from him. He said he had been surprised the image was taken seriously for so long. A second person subsequently supported the account.
Status and corroboration
The photographer's admission is the direct evidence here, and it is not contested by the researchers who previously defended the image. Belgian UFO researchers who had promoted the photograph accepted the confession. The image should no longer be cited as evidence of anything.
What remains unknown
The confession settles the photograph and nothing beyond it. The wider Belgian wave of 1989 to 1990 involved separate reports, including gendarmerie witnesses and an F-16 radar encounter, which are not addressed by this admission and are not resolved by it. Treating the fake photograph as closing the whole wave would be as wrong as treating it as proving it.
Sources
- NewsPhotographer's televised admission, RTL-TVI, 2011
Tags
What do you think?
We have set out what the record contains and what it does not. If you know of footage, a document, or a detail that belongs here, tell us and we will look at it.