Crash d'ovni dans le désert du Kalahari, Botswana, le 7 mai 1989

Je cherchais quelle pouvait bien être la référence de JGG pour les petits aliens gris-bleus et je suis tombé sur ce cas nullard aux documents "officiels" qui rivalisent avec MJ-12 en matière de (manque de) crédibilité.

L'histoire, d'abord publiée dans "Quest International" V9 #2, 1989 par Tony Dodd, est la suivante, en résumé :

Un ovni a survolé l'espace aérien d'Afrique du Sud et a été abattu dans le désert du Kalahari par deux intercepteurs "Mirage" Sud-Africains, l'un armé d'un canon laser expérimental "Thor 2". Une récupération a suivi, près de la frontière, du côté du Botswana (mais seulement après une qu'une peinture spéciale a été amenée pour couvrir l'objet - ses effets électromagnétiques faisaient caler les véhicules, y compris un hélicoptère qui s'est écrasé.) L'objet a ensuite été ouvert, et deux ET vivants en sont sortis. L'objet et les occupants ont été transférés de l'Afrique du Sud à Wright-Patterson AFB dans l'Ohio par un C-5 de l'US Air Force le 23 juin 1989.

(Je vais rajouter des sources traduites au fur et à mesure, patience.)

Les 5 pages de documents associés à l'histoire, soi-disant FOIAisés (ha!) de la SAAF (Force Aérienne Sud-Africaine) sont traduits ici : http://photovni.free.fr/f.o.i.a%2057/south_africa.htm

(Cliquer Next en bas pour la suite)

Deux articles intéressants dans le magazine ufologique de Cynthia Hind (passés à l'OCR pour traduction plus facile) :

http://www.ufoafrinews.com/pdfs/UFO_AFRINEWS03-150.pdf

UFOAFRINEWS n°3 p.5-13

UFO CRASH ON BOTSWANA/SOUTH AFRICAN BORDER
(Case N° 21)

This incident, alleged to have occurred on the 7th May, 1989, hit the headlines in September last year. Revelations were made by a Dr Henry Azadehdel that he was in touch with South African Intelligence officers who had revealed ‘all’ about the incident.

Apparently Azadehdel entertained one of the Intelligence Officers and his family for a month and during this time, had the full story from his guest. It is, allegedly, his intention to write a book about the incident.

The story involves a radar pick-up of an unidentified object by a South African naval frigate, White Swan, south of the Cape at 13.45 hrs on 7th May. Apparently, the object was heading towards the South African coast in a NW direction at a speed of 5746 nautical miles per hour. It entered S.African air space at 13.52 hrs, when two Mirage jets were scrambled under the leadership of Squadron Leader Jones. At 13.59 hrs radar and visual contact was made and a Thor 2 experimental laser cannon was fired at the object (Thor2 is allegedly a secret weapon).

The object was hit and crash-landed 70 km into Botswana in the Kalahari Desert. The object crashed at a 25° angle into the desert.

A team was despatched to investigate (one assumes it was a SAAF team!). Subsequently, recovery helicopters were sent in, but the first one hovered at 500 feet, crashed, and all 5 crew were killed. This was supposedly due to the electromagnetic field emanating from the object. A paint-like substance was hurriedly flown in and painted on the object which apparently negated the adverse effects.

The object was conveyed to an Air Force Base, to the 6th underground level.

Suddenly, there was à strange noise from the craft and a small opening appeared in the side. Hydraulic pressure gear was used to open the door, when two small alien creatures staggered out and were promptly arrested.

One of the aliens appeared injured but managed to attack the doctor who attended to him and the well-meaning medic was left with severe scratches on his face and chest.

United States expertise was called in by the South Africans and the object and its two occupants were then flown to Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, on the 23rd June.

This is the basic story as given out by the Intelligence Officer. It was backed up by the first page being printed on Top Secret SAAF paper.

Having read the story in full, I was immediately suspicious. The document appeared to be on official and genuine-looking paper, but it gave me much cause for thought.

a) It was full of spelling errors. The S.A. Air Force is a most efficient and well thought of force and it would hardly be likely to issue a Top Secret document for its high officials with spellings such as ‘dessert’ for desert, poppulace, eminating, iniahalation, dissapation, etc.

b) The document was in English. As the High Command are nearly ail Afrikaans-speaking, the document would hardly be in English. (Please note spelling of this word AFRIKAANS: I have seen the most peculiar variations, from Africans to Afrikane, etc.)

c) The alleged Intelligence agent had written out a document which contained a page and a half of strange, hieroglyphic type of writing which, he said, had been found inside the craft. Being very friendly with Irene Granchi of C.I.S.N.E. in Brasil, I recalled that she had shown me evidence (from several contactees) where an ‘alien’ language s involved.

She has very kindly sent me copies of these and I have passed them on to MUFON.

d) The document speaks of Squadron Leader Jones. There is no such rank in the SAAF. He would be a Captain or a Major.

Both David Powell (Pretoria, S.A.) and Asst Editor Maria Sullivan (Harare) have commented on the documents. Maria Sullivan says:

i) If the crash occurred in Botswana (70 km inside their border), the S.African government would have had to have permission to cross the border for the retrieval, particularly as this is a very sensitive area.

ii) The report states that Sqr Ldr Jones was instructed to circle the area until the retrieval of the object was completed. The craft was alleged to have taken off at 13.52 hrs (or soon after) from Valhalla, Pretoria. If one looks at the map, how could the plane have remained aloft without refuelling for so long a period of time?

iii) Land equipment required to retrieve the object, and the time and distance involved, to reach 70 km into Botswana, would have taken days. There is no landing area for large aircraft in the desolate wastes of the Kalahari either. Also, the Botswana Govt would have had to be largely involved.

iv) Could the two aliens have survived such a heavy impact?

v) If these poor, half-alive ‘aliens’ did emerge aggressively from the craft, scratching and attacking the doctor, how did the medics eventually undress them so that a complete anatomical examination could be made?

vi) If the ‘aliens’ refused all food and drink offered to them, how did they survive, presumably from May 7th to June 23rd when they were delivered to Wright Patterson AFB?

vii) Measurements in South Africa are metric, yet this report contains a conglomeration of yards, metres, feet, tonnes, etc.

David Powell further discredits the report:

a) Destination - Air Force Base, Pretoria. Pretoria is a city, not an AFB. In an official report, the actual base would be identified.

b) Naval frigate ‘White Swan’ radioed Cape Town. Naval HQ is at Simonstown, and this is whom they would make contact with.

c) The Thor 2 Laser cannon. The existence of such a weapon is extremely doubtful, since it is not compatible with the type of foe the aircraft are designed to intercept.

d) Time is 13.59 GMT. The term GMT is not used in South Africa. Time is quoted in Universal Time. Also, time in South Africa is denoted as 13h59.

e) Valhalla Air Force Base. There is no such Base. Valhalla is a training Base and an Administrative one. The nearest AFB is Swartkops, which has only propeller-driven aircraft as the runway is too short for jets. There are no Mirages there.

f) Mirages have very limited fuel supply.
They could never ‘circle the area until retrieval was complete’ a process which would surely take several days, especially if it involved US personnel from Wright Patterson. The SAAF would also never risk having one of its strike aircraft circling over a foreign land, even if it had the capacity to do so, since so much secret weaponry could easily fall into enemy hands.

g) Since the lingua franca of the SA Defence Force is Afrikaans, ever since the election of the National Party in 1948, any report emanating from a pilot would inevitably be made in Afrikaans and not in English.

h) Finally, since the SA Navy has so few frigates, they are all public knowledge, especially as they are partly staffed by volunteers from the Citizens Defence Force. There is no secrecy attached to them.

......

The alleged South African Intelligence Officer (or one of them) is James van Greunen (there is a variation in the spelling of his surname). As far as I can ascertain, he is of Dutch descent and was born in S.Africa. At age 16 he showed interest in UFOs and became a paid-up member of MUFON.

He then spent some time in Canada where, he alleges, he was affiliated to NUFORIN, a Canadian UFO group. When he returned to South Africa, he formed a new group under the same heading.

Some time late last year, he was on GOOD MORNING, SOUTH AFRICA on television when he spoke about his new group and invited those interested to contact him.

James van Greunen is about 26 years old and a very personable young man. Undoubtedly, he had many replies when he informed would-be members that the fee for joining his group was R300 per annum. (approx. US$100)

Early in November, van Greunen telephoned me to ask where he could get in touch with Prier Wintle (MUFON representative for Cape Town). Prier was staying with me at the time, but was out. Van Greunen then said he had heard I was passing through Johannesburg on my way to the Cape in December and would I address his group NUFORIN.

A few days earlier my daughter had told me of his TV appearance and how well and knowledgeably he had come over, she said. Although a bit ambivalent about speaking to his group (I wanted to speak in Johannesburg but felt I would like to reach a wider audience), I eventually agreed.

Subsequently, van Greunen phoned to say the talk would be on 29th December (1989) at the Johannesburger Hotel He also told me he might come to Zimbabwe for 2 or 3 days and was concerned about accommodation. I said if it was only for a short time like that, I could give him a bed (I already had British guests staying with me), but he would have to let me know definitely and in advance. He mentioned that he might have another person (male) with him.

On 21st December at 21h30, I received an anonymous telephone call which threatened me if I gave hospitality to Van Greunen, claiming he was a crook, a thief and a discredit to S.Africa. I knew the call was from outside the country due to the noise on the line. Also, the caller had an accent I could not readily identify. It was not South African but might have been Dutch or Belgian.

His threat also involved my investigation of the ‘incident’ on the Botswana border. The caller refused to give his name or state his purpose. Later, I was able to establish that it was Henry Azadehdel.

The arrangement with Van Greunen was that he would make contact with me in Johannesburg when I arrived, or I would call him when I got there.

I arrived on 28th December and from that time on, periodically, I called his number. There was no reply. Unfortunately I could not remember the name of the hotel where we were to speak so I was unable to phone there either to find out what was happening, or track him down.

Shortly after arriving in Cape Town, I was shown the one and only issue of the magazine NUFORIN which James had produced. He mentioned the meeting and the fact that I was speaking; the time and place and that there would be a charge of R20 per head (I was flabbergasted!).

As soon as I knew all this, I asked my colleague David Powell to contact the Johannesburger Hotel. This he did and found out that over 20 people had turned up on the night, with tickets. The receptionist also told him that Van Greunen had enquired about renting a room but had never confirmed this.

I then received a letter from abroad to say that Van Greunen had been flown out of South Africa to Europe in the mistaken belief that his story was true and he was going to produce another 200-300 documents to prove it!

About this time, I received a letter from a friend to report that Van Greunen had called at his bookshop and purchased US$544 worth of books which he paid for with an American cheque. Needless to say, the cheque came back marked ‘Account Closed’.

One last confirmation of Van Greunen’s fraudulent and total irresponsible behaviour: On 2nd March, 1990, he telephoned Prier Wintle in Cape Town. He was phoning from West Germany. He said he was aware that ho was in my bad books re the talk but he said he had not collected the money for this. This was the responsibility of Dr James Hunt of the University of South Africa‘s Legal Department. David Powell has been in touch with them (Degrees are obtained mainly by correspondence) and was told Dr Hunt had left them at the end of last year. They had no forwarding address and we have not been able to find him in the telephone book.

Van Greunen spoke about several people to Prier :

Capt Hendrik Greef, who was allegedly a South African Air Force Intelligence Officer and who, he says, has been demoted to the ranks.

Ben Nel who lives in New York (no address given and N.Y. is a b-i-g place!) and who is in possession of 4 photographs of the aliens.

Valhalla Air Force Base where experiments are being carried out on ‘Blenheim’ and ‘Kentron’, which sound far too British and Sci-Fi for South Africa.

Van Greunen also said that the UFO crash story had now been graded to ‘AAA5’ security (how would he know that, if he was flitting ail over the world?); that the helicopters in the rescue operation flew only one metre above the ground (rather dangerous in unexplored and foreign territory) and that he had now revised the crash position to 70 km inside the Botswana border. He also made certain accusations against Azadehdel which, if true, would involve the Drug Squad, and said his former host was a KGB agent.

Van Greunen claimed to have worked for NORAD and the DIA in Canada, something which we are now checking out.

He also referred to MOSSAD having furnished Harry Harris with documentation on the case, but I have come to observe that when in doubt about South Africa, blame the Israelis! If Harris has information, I would like to see it, for it seems to me that the biggest mistake made by Tony Dodd, QUEST magazine, MUFON, etc. was that they jumped to conclusions before checking or consulting the reliable investigators in Southern Africa, who would have realised that there was something fishy going on: ‘iets onder die kornbers’.

His final request to Prier was the pièce de resistance of them all!

“Send me as many documents as you have”, he said, leaving Prier wondering what documents he was talking about, and whose?

There is only one positive factor in the whole case, or so it seems to me. On the 7th May, 1989, something did come down on the Botswana/South African border...

G. M. C., who reports to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C,, watches the night sky on their behalf. On that particular night he saw what he thinks was a ‘fireball’ coming down over the area, but he is busy checking out his records of that night to be certain.

Further investigations are being conducted at the moment and more information will be passed on as soon as possible.

I think James van Greunen is in a great deal of trouble! He really mucked up the first rule of the true investigator : GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, CHUM, BEFORE YOU TRY AND CARRY OFF A HOAX OF THIS MAGNITUDE.

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http://www.ufoafrinews.com/pdfs/UFO_AFRINEWS04-150.pdf

UFOAFRINEWS n°4 pp.20-29

FURTHER REPORT ON THE ALLEGED BOTSWANA/SOUTH AFRICAN BORDER UFO CRASH -- Case N° 21 Cynthia Hind

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In the report in AFRINEWS N° 3 (June 1990), I made it clear that James van Greunen was the perpetrator of the hoax concerning the above incident. But only as far as the events were concerned. I never denied that something might have happened on the Border and for the purpose of this extension to the earlier investigation, I intend reporting on the further developments, with only passing reference to the fraudulent behaviour of Van Greunen. He, incidentally, appears to have left South Africa and was last reported to have been seen in Cairo with a German girl friend. I had two phone numbers for him and both David Powell and I repeatedly dialled the numbers; but although the phone rang (which showed that it was still paid up), no—one replied. An interesting side—light to this was discovered by David: on a page of alleged ‘hieroglyphic writing’ which Van Greunen said was discovered inside the crashed UFO, telephone numbers appeared. One of these is a Pretoria number which David has repeatedly dialled; on one occasion, the line was engaged, but when he dialled again shortly afterwards, the phone rang without reply. I have now picked up a second telephone number on the same sheet of paper (it is a London number) and am trying to track this down. Whatever results with regard to the crashed UFO, I'm quite sure that Van Greunen will be involved somewhere along the line.

Further contact with GMC of Bulawayo (whom I have now met and who has proved to be of great assistance) has shown that the ‘fireball’ which was originally reported to have been seen on 07-05-1989, was in fact, seen on 07—05—1988.

The time of sighting was 2345 and it was seen from the Matopos Road at the 29.5 km peg when GMC was travelling in his car. The weather was calm and clear and the object, viewed for of 1/4 of a second, was moving fast eastward at a 10° angle. It moved vertically below Arcturus, and was brighter than Venus.

It was a greenish colour with a luminous white trail, and after sighting it, GMC saw it vanish above the horizon. There was nothing more of significance during this time.

No part of this report ties in with what Van Greunen had to say, with one exception: I received a letter from Irene Granchi, head of C.I.S.N.E. in Brasil, and a top Brasilian investigator. One of her top investigators, a doctor who was a most reliable and intelligent researcher, had interviewed a Marine sergeant who was now retired from the services and working in his own business. He had been a photographic expert and according to him had flown to South Africa in 1988 to take pictures of a crash on the Botswana border with South Africa.

The sergeant’s story was interesting: he maintains that in December 1988 he was sent by the Navy to South Africa where he stayed for four days. He took photographs which were not shown to anyone and the film was handed over to his superiors. The photographs were taken in the Kalahari Desert (misspelled in Brasil as ‘Kalawari’) - not designated exactly where - but the spot was close to a hamlet of a nomadic cattle-raising people. The area was well treed, but many of the trees had been torn from the ground as though something had fallen from above and destroyed them. He noticed pieces of metal in the ground beside the fallen trees; the metal was blackened as though badly burnt. The crater caused by the fall was deep but not very large; the sergeant estimated it at about 15m in diameter. He also mentioned that a French agent had been shot by the CIA when found trying to survey the place. He says he saw American Marines there with machinery and cranes, cleaning up the area and what was left over looked like a heap of bent metal.

Upon examining his evidence, there is a question of dates. If he was flown to South Africa in December '88, he could not be reporting on an event which happened in May '89!

AND, how come the Brasilian Navy is involved in an incident on the S.Africa/Botswana border?

If the Brasilian sergeant is telling the truth, then perhaps we have to look at an All-Nations Committee (not just an MJ-12) on the investigation of UFOs.

The Brasilian investigator feels that the Marine sergeant has no axe to grind regarding this report; he has not obtained any publicity for his business (he remains anonymous) and there is no money involved. However, it does strike me as rather strange that anyone - even an International Investigation Committee - would call on a Brasilian naval photographer to take pictures 8000 km away from the country concerned, unless a) there were no qualified photographers in S.Africa - which is absurd - or b) if it was on the Botswana side of the border, then of course they might not allow the South Africans into their country.

I also find it difficult to accept nomadic tribes people with cattle in this area, as Nomads don’t drive animals along with them on their treks but kill game as they require food.

And why, for heaven’s sake, would the CIA shoot a French agent when this was bound to be witnessed and noted by other nationals?

On the other hand, if the Brasilian sergeant is telling the truth, then maybe this is the event that did happen on the border. Maybe Van Greunen based his whole imaginative saga on an event that actually took place. But the crashing of a UFO? A more likely explanation would be space debris from a foreign satellite, or the remains of a secret weapon that South Africa was anxious to retrieve - and someone else got there first.

Subsequently, other factors from the earlier report have come to light :

Bill Nell, whom I mentioned in AFRINEWS 3 is obviously Bill Knell of New York, head of a UFO group there and in possession of some photographs of alleged Aliens, certainly not taken in South Africa.

On a published letter in the JOURNAL 0F UFO INVESTIGATION, a section of the USAF (presumably) has replied to an enquiry from Mr Harry Harris, a Manchester solicitor and well-known UFO investigator.

It says:

“Our contacts advise that the object in question was not brought down by South African forces, but crashed due to ‘advanced composites fatigue.’"

A satellite in trouble?

In one of the documents produced by Van Greunen, he mentions several names, some of which are :
D A Fielding Major Counter Intelligence
W A Spaulding Capt. " "
H J Greef Capt. " "
J H Van Greunen Capt. " "
R J Shickerling Capt. Air Force Pilot

Major Fielding was a very great friend of Elizabeth Klarer, the South African who had a UFO experience in 1957. He died about three years ago. W A Spaulding, I suspect, has been borrowed from Bill Spaulding of Ground Saucer Watch. H J Greef is Van Greunen’s pilot friend who might initially have spilled the beans.

R J Shickerling is an ex-SAAF pilot who had a UFO experience in Botswana, for whose Air Force he now flies.

I don’t recognize the other names but I feel that they were picked out of a hat as well. They are well-known South African names, like Smith, Wilson, Jones and so forth.

I doubt that we will ever know the truth about what happened on the South African border but I cannot help feeling that whatever it was, it certainly was not a spacecraft with two fighting aliens inside!

* * * * * * * * * *

On page 7, item (c) of AFRINEWS N° 3 we referred to a strange, hieroglyphic type of writing which Van Greunen had alleged was found inside the crashed craft.

He actually produced two pages referring to this writing, with an interpretation (his, obviously) and some actual sentences. Most people seemed to accept this as authentic. A colleague of mine, Irene Granchi - already referred to above - had come across similar writings and sent me several pages produced by various people. Maria Sullivan, our Asst. Editor, who worked for some time for a Professor of Linguistics at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, volunteered to do a study of the writing allegedly found inside the craft.

This is her report.

[je passe l'analyse détaillée de la linguiste, sa conclusion est :]

I can only dismiss this so—called alphabet of an extraterrestrial dialect - and especially the ‘deciphered and translated’ sentences given above — as a complete fabrication in line with the others that have made the Van Greunen Saga one of the most impudently successful confidence tricks in recent ufological history.

[traduction à suivre]

Dans un deuxième article Cynthia Hind discute d'informations obtenues de sources anonymes sans beaucoup d'intérêt à mon avis. J'adore quand elle joue la sceptique. Les précisions sur les documents produits par Van Greunen, source initiale de toute l'affaire, sont utiles, alors je traduis :

UFOAFRINEWS n°4 pp. 20-29
NOUVEAU RAPPORT SUR LE CRASH ALLÉGUÉE A LA FRONTIÈRE BOTSWANA / AFRIQUE DU SUD - Cas N °21 Cynthia Hind
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Dans le rapport d'AFRINEWS N° 3 (juin 1990), j'ai dit clairement que James van Greunen était l'auteur du canular concernant l'incident ci-dessus. Mais seulement dans la mesure où les événements ont été concernés. Je n'ai jamais nié que quelque chose a pu arriver à la frontière et dans le but de cette extension de l'enquête précédente, j'ai l'intention de rapporter les développements ultérieurs, avec seulement quelques mentions du comportement frauduleux de Van Greunen. Il semble d'ailleurs avoir quitté l'Afrique du Sud et aurait été vu dernièrement au Caire avec une amie allemande. J'ai eu deux de ses numéros de téléphone. David Powell et moi, nous n'avons composé ces numéros de nombreuses fois, mais bien que le téléphone ait sonné (ce qui montre que la ligne était encore valide), personne n'a répondu. Un éclairage intéressant à ce propos a été découvert par David : sur une page « d'écriture hiéroglyphique » qui, selon Van Greunen a été découverte à l'intérieur de l'OVNI qui s'est écrasé, des numéros de téléphone apparaissaient. L'un d'eux est un numéro à Pretoria que David a maintes fois composé. A une occasion, la ligne était ouverte, mais quand il a composé le numéro à nouveau peu de temps après, le téléphone a sonné sans réponse. J'ai maintenant choisi un deuxième numéro de téléphone sur la même feuille de papier (il est de Londres) et j'essaie de l'identifier. Quel que soit le résultat en ce qui concerne l'OVNI écrasé), je suis sûre que Van Greunen sera impliqué quelque part le long de cette piste.

Un nouveau contact avec GMC de Bulawayo (que j'ai rencontré et qui maintenant s'est avéré être d'une grande aide) a montré que le « bolide » qui a été d'abord rapporté avoir été vu le 05/07/1989 a été, en fait, vu le 05/07/1988.

L'heure de l'observation était 23h45 et il a été vu depuis la route de Matopos à la borne 29,5 km quand GMC voyageait sa voiture. Le temps était calme et clair et l'objet, vu pendant 1/4 de seconde, se déplaçait rapidement vers l'est à un angle de 10°. Il s'est déplacé verticalement au-dessous Arcturus, et était plus brillante que Vénus.

Il était d'une couleur verdâtre avec une traînée lumineuse blanche, et après l'observation, GMC l'a vu disparaître à l'horizon. Il ne s'est plus rien passé de significatif à ce moment.

Rien dans ce rapport ne correspond à ce que Van Greunen avait à dire, à une exception près : j'ai reçu une lettre d'Irene Granchi, dirigeant le C.I.S.N.E. au Brésil, un des plus importants enquêteurs brésiliens. Un de ses premiers enquêteurs, un médecin qui était un chercheur des plus fiables et intelligents, avait interviewé un sergent de la Marine qui a maintenant pris sa retraite des services et qui travaille à son compte. Il avait été un expert en photographie et selon lui avait pris l'avion pour l'Afrique du Sud en 1988 afin de prendre des photos d'un crash sur la frontière du Botswana-Afrique du Sud.

L'histoire du sergent était intéressante : il maintient qu'en décembre 1988, il a été envoyé par la Marine en Afrique du Sud où il est resté quatre jours. Il a pris des photos qui n'ont été montrées à personne et le film a été remis à ses supérieurs. Les photos ont été prises dans le désert du Kalahari (mal orthographié au Brésil en « Kalawari ») - sans plus de précisions - mais l'endroit était proche d'un hameau de quelques nomades qui élèvent des bovins. La zone était bien boisée, mais la plupart des arbres avaient été arrachés du sol, comme si quelque chose était tombé d'en haut et les a détruits. Il a remarqué des morceaux de métal dans le sol à côté des arbres tombés ; le métal était noirci comme s'il avait été gravement brûlé. Le cratère provoqué par la chute était profond, mais pas très grand, le sergent l'a estimé à environ 15 m de diamètre. Il a également mentionné qu'un agent français avait été abattu par la CIA alors qu'il tentait d'inspecter l'endroit. Il a dit qu'il a vu des Marines américains là-bas avec les machines et les grues, nettoyant la zone et ce qui restait ressemblait à un tas de métal plié.

Lors de l'examen de son témoignage, il y a un problème de dates. S'il a été transporté en avion jusqu'en Afrique du Sud en décembre 88, il ne pouvait pas raconter un événement qui s'est passé en mai 89!

ET, comment se fait-il que la Marine brésilienne soit impliquée dans un incident à la frontière Afrique du Sud / Botswana ?

Si le sergent brésilien dit la vérité, alors peut-être que nous avons à faire avec un comité de toutes les nations (et pas seulement un MJ-12) d'étude des ovnis.

L'enquêteur brésilien estime que le sergent de la marine n'a pas d'arrière-pensée en ce qui concerne le présent rapport, il n'a obtenu aucune publicité pour son entreprise (il reste anonyme) et il n'y a pas d'argent impliqué. Toutefois, il me paraît plutôt étrange que n'importe qui - même une commission d'enquête internationale - fasse appel à un photographe brésilien naval pour prendre des photos à 8000 km du pays concerné, à moins que a) il n'y avait pas de photographes qualifiés dans en Afrique du Sud - ce qui est absurde - ou b) si le lieu était du côté du Botswana de la frontière, alors bien sûr, ils [les Botswanais ?] pourraient ne pas autoriser de Sud-Africains dans leur pays.

Je trouve aussi qu'il est difficile d'accepter les tribus nomades avec du bétail dans cette zone, car les nomades ne conduisent pas les animaux avec eux sur leurs migrations mais tuent du gibier quand ils ont besoin de nourriture.

Et pourquoi, pour l'amour du ciel, la CIA aurait-elle tué un agent français alors que cela aurait été vu et noté par d'autres ressortissants ?

En revanche, si le sergent brésilien dit la vérité, alors peut-être que c'est bien le cas qui s'est produit à la frontière. Peut-être que Van Greunen a basé sa saga imaginative sur un événement qui a réellement eu lieu. Mais la chute d'un OVNI ? Une explication plus plausible serait des débris spatiaux d'un satellite étranger, ou les restes d'une arme secrète que l'Afrique du Sud était impatiente de récupérer - et quelqu'un d'autre est arrivés le premier sur le site.

Par la suite, d'autres facteurs du premier rapport précédent ont vu le jour:

Bill Nell, dont j'ai parlé dans AFRINEWS 3 est évidemment Bill Knell de New York, qui dirige un groupe OVNI là-bas et qui est en possession de photos d'extraterrestres allégués, certainement pas prises en Afrique du Sud.

Dans une lettre publiée dans le JOURNAL D'ENQUÊTE OVNI, une section de l'USAF (je présume) a répondu à une question de M. Harry Harris, un avocat de Manchester et ufologue bien connu.

Il y est dit :

« Nos contacts nous informent que l'objet en question n'a pas été abattu par les forces sud-africaines, mais s'est écrasé en raison de la « fatigue des composites avancés. »

Un satellite en difficulté ?

Dans l'un des documents produits par Van Greunen, il mentionne plusieurs noms, dont certains sont :
D A Fielding, Major, contre-espionnage
W A Spaulding, Capitaine, " "
H J Greef, Capitaine " "
J H Van Greunen, Capitaine " "
R J Shickerling, Capitaine pilote de l'Armée de l'Air

Le major Fielding était un très grand ami d'Elizabeth Klarer, l'Africaine du Sud qui a eu une expérience OVNI en 1957. Il est mort il y a environ trois ans. W A Spaulding, je pense, a été emprunté à Bili Spaulding du Ground Saucer Watch. H J Greef est l'ami pilote de Van Greunen qui pourrait avoir initialement craché le morceau.

RJ Shickerling est un ancien pilote de la SAAF ayant eu une expérience OVNI au Botswana, dans l'Armée de l'Air de laquelle il vole maintenant.

Je ne reconnais pas les autres noms, mais je pense qu'ils sont tirés du chapeau. Ils sont des noms d'Afrique du Sud bien connus, tels que Smith, Wilson, Jones et ainsi de suite.

Je doute que nous saurons jamais la vérité sur ce qui s'est passé à la frontière sud-africaine, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de penser que quoi que ça ait été, ce n'était certainement pas un vaisseau spatial avec deux extraterrestres à l'intérieur!

* * * * * * * * * *

À la page 7, au point (c) d'AFRINEWS N° 3 nous nous sommes référés à un étrange type d'écriture hiéroglyphique qui selon Van Greunen avait été trouvée à l'intérieur de l'engin qui s'est écrasé.

En fait, il a produit deux pages faisant référence à ces écritures, avec une interprétation (la sienne, évidemment) et quelques vraies phrases. La plupart des gens semblent les accepter comme authentiques. Une de mes collègues, Irene Granchi - déjà mentionnée ci-dessus - était tombée sur des écrits similaires et m'avait envoyé plusieurs pages produites par diverses personnes. Maria Sullivan, notre adjointe rédactrice en chef, qui a travaillé pendant un certain temps pour un professeur de linguistique à l'Université Wits à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud, s'est portée volontaire pour faire une étude de l'écriture qui aurait été trouvée à l'intérieur de l'engin.

Il s'agit de son rapport.

[Je passe l'analyse détaillée de la linguiste, sa conclusion est :]

Je ne peux que rejeter cet alphabet soi-disant d'un dialecte extraterrestre - et en particulier les phrases « déchiffrées et traduites » ci-dessus - comme une fabrication complète en accord avec les autres qui ont fait de la saga Van Greunen l'une des plus insolentes réussites dans le domaine de l'abus de confiance dans l'histoire ufologique récente.

Merci Nab, très intéressant...

Oui, merci, Nab, en particulier pour le travail de traduction!

Je note (trucs à chercher) :

- Il existe bien une Valhalla AFB :
http://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/bases/14/valhalla
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.12603675335.42205.12603335335
* Quelle était la longueur de la piste ?
* Confusion avec Swartkop Airfield in Valhalla, Pretoria ?

- Où étaient stationnés les Mirages IIIC et F1 ?

- Chute de satellite possible ? Cf. SpaceTrack, Oberg et Stone.

- A lire :
* Randles, Jenny “UFO Retrievals” (1995) at pages 151-154 (in Chapter 7) of the Blandford softback edition.
* Clark, Jerome “The UFO Encyclopedia: 1st edition: Volume 1 – UFOs in the 1980s” (1990) at pages 69-70 of the Apogee hardback edition in an entry entitled “Crashes of UFOs”.
* Version différente des documents "top secrets" dans le Disclosure Project :
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img.photobucket.com...
* Source de Tony Dodd ? http://www.textfiles.com/ufo/ossette.ufo

Je sais que Kevin Randle en parle (mais je ne sais pas ce qu'il en dit) dans un de ses deux ouvrages (ou les deux ?) consacrés aux crashes d'OVNI : Crash: When UFOs Fall From the Sky: A History of Famous Incidents, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups (2010) et/ou History of Ufo Crashes (1995).

Gilles F. a écrit:Je sais que Kevin Randle en parle (mais je ne sais pas ce qu'il en dit) dans un de ses deux ouvrages (ou les deux ?) consacrés aux crashes d'OVNI : Crash: When UFOs Fall From the Sky: A History of Famous Incidents, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups (2010) et/ou History of Ufo Crashes (1995).

Oui mais je ne les ai pas, ceux-là.

Pas plus que (références compilées par l'excellent Isaac Koi) :
http://www.isaackoi.com/ufo/19890507-kalahari-desert-crash.html

Clark, Jerome “The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning - 2nd edition” (1998) in Volume 2:L-Z at pages 870-871 (in an entry entitled “South African Crash Hoax”) of the Omnigraphics hardback edition.

Dodd, Tony “Alien Investigator” (1999) at pages 33-42 and 46-75 (in Chapter 2) of the Headline paperback edition.

Randle, Kevin D “A history of UFO crashes” (1995) at pages 211-212 (in Appendix A, “The UFO Crash Data Base”) of the Avon paperback edition.

Randle, Kevin D “Case MJ-12” (2002) at pages 276-286 (in the Appendix generally) of the Harper Torch paperback edition.

Redfern, Nick “A Covert Agenda” (1997) at pages 248, 250-251 (in Chapter 17) of the Simon & Schuster hardback edition.

Redfern, Nick “Cosmic Crashes” (1999) at pages 191-192 (in Chapter 9) of the Simon & Schuster hardback edition.

Salter, Daniel M. “Life With a Cosmos Clearance” (2003) at pages 29-30, 32, 33-34, 35, 36 (in Chapter 3) of the Light Technology softcover edition.

nablator a écrit:
- Chute de satellite possible ? Cf. SpaceTrack, Oberg et Stone.

Rien trouvé sur Spacetrack. Il y a bien eu un élément de lanceur qui est retombé ce jour-là, mais il ne passait pas au-dessus de l'Afrique au moment des faits.

J'ai parcouru vite fait le sujet sur ATS ou sur d'autres entrées. Il semblerait que parfois la date du 7 mai 1988 serait donnée. Rien non plus ?

Gilles F. a écrit:J'ai parcouru vite fait le sujet sur ATS ou sur d'autres entrées. Il semblerait que parfois la date du 7 mai 1988 serait donnée. Rien non plus ?

Dans le 2ème article de Cynthia Hind "GMC" confirme avoir observé une chute (bolide ou R.A. de satellite) le 7 mai 1988. C'est sans rapport a priori sauf si même l'année est fausse ! Une histoire vraie de récupération de débris (de satellite ?) est néanmoins possible, sur laquelle van Greunen aurait brodé... Il y aurait eu confirmation de source militaire qu'une partie de l'histoire serait vraie... Il faut que je continue à lire...