France's space agency puts 50 years of UFO case files online
March 22, 2007 · CNES, Toulouse · Document release · Secondary sources only
On 22 March 2007 the French space agency CNES published its archive of more than 1,600 sightings since 1954. Its head, Jacques Patenet, said nearly a quarter were type D cases that could not be explained despite good data, and called the move 'a world first.' The site crashed within hours under heavy traffic.
Why it matters (3/5)
The first government to put its whole UFO archive online; the site crashed within hours.
Caveats
Patenet said there was no proof that extraterrestrials were behind the unexplained cases, nor proof that they were not. Later GEIPAN figures put the unexplained share much lower.
Sources
- France Opens Secret UFO Files Covering 50 Years (Space Daily / Solar Daily (AFP)), context
- GEIPAN (Wikipedia), context