On May 14 and 15, 2024, the French Astronautics and Aeronautics Association (3AF) held a major conference on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (UAP) in Paris.
The event was organized by Sigma 2, 3AF’s Technical Committee on UAP, which has conducted multidisciplinary scientific investigations into anomalous aerospace encounters since 2013. It researches the most anomalous cases from the Information and Study Group on UAP (GEIPAN) and other sources.
3AF, a non-profit academic society with 15,000 members, collaborates with key French institutions including the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), and the Civil Aviation Directorate (DGAC). The conference brought together experts in science, defense, and policy to share research, eyewitness testimony, and strategic frameworks for addressing UAP phenomena.
Scientific Presentations and Detection Efforts
The conference opened with remarks from Alain Juillet, former director of France’s external intelligence agency, who called for a rigorous scientific investigation of UAP. “Having agreed that UAPs are real phenomena with remarkable observables, we need to continuously improve our knowledge,” he stated.
Luc Dini, director of Sigma 2, launched the technical discussions with a presentation on optical signatures linked to plasma phenomena and their potential relevance to UAP. He referenced the 2023 U.S. Senate hearing where (now former) AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick testified, noting frequent radio frequency emissions associated with UAP. Dini emphasized the need for synchronized data collection using multiple sensor types—infrared, electromagnetic, optical, and radar—to reduce misinterpretation and improve reliability.
Following Dini, Dr. Beatriz Villarroel delivered a critical analysis of the limitations in current UAP research, citing social stigma, lack of peer-reviewed journals, and inadequate funding. She advocated for hypothesis-driven studies focused on clearly defined terms like “flying saucers” or “discs,” arguing that this approach helps isolate specific observable phenomena such as sunlight reflectivity from orbiting objects. Her team uses photographic plates from the 1950s, predating the satellite era, to distinguish artificial from potentially non-human sources to analyze transient sky phenomena. Villarroel also highlighted the Exoprobe Project, which uses a network of synchronized telescopes to detect and analyze unusual light spectra. She suggested that if a compelling object is located, orbital debris-collection companies could assist with potential recovery.
Raymond Piccoli, director of the Lightning Research Laboratory, demonstrated how sky-monitoring cameras, once considered mythical, can capture fast-moving natural UAPs, such as red sprites. Using France’s Farfadet camera network, researchers can now record these rare, high-atmosphere electrical discharges.
Next, Dr. Hakan Kayal of the University of Würzburg’s IFEX center presented several initiatives to detect and monitor UAP, including the Sonate 1 and 2 satellites and SkyCam autonomous detection systems, one of which is deployed in Norway’s Hessdalen Valley. He introduced the Anomaly Detection and Observation System (ADEOS), a modular platform designed to observe indirect effects caused by UAPs rather than the objects themselves. Like Villarroel, he emphasized that lack of funding remains a critical bottleneck to progress.
Both Villarroel and Kayal addressed speculation that UAP might actively avoid detection. Regarding the possibility that UAP could choose to avoid detection or conceal themselves in areas where telescopes may be present (should they be sentient), Villarroel told The Debrief that with the Exoprobe Project reaching far out Earth’s atmosphere, UAP could potentially also be detected in space if any are operating beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Kayal added that even if UAPs can conceal themselves, their entry and exit from concealment might still leave observable traces—potentially the most scientifically valuable moments to study.
In a roundtable discussion, Kayal demonstrated how machine vision systems can mistakenly interpret birds as sci-fi-like craft, underscoring the need for precise identification tools. The session also featured retired Brig. Gen. Jean-Marc André, who presented a reanalysis of the 2007 Jersey UAP case involving veteran pilot Capt. Ray Bowyer.
Eyewitness Testimony: The Jersey Sighting
Capt. Bowyer described flying a Trislander aircraft with nine passengers on April 23, 2007, when he observed a bright, stationary light over the English Channel. Air traffic control initially saw nothing on radar, but later confirmed an anomalous return 45 miles away. Bowyer estimated the object’s shape as elongated with sharp ends and a dark angled band emitting sparkling lights. A second, more distant object appeared shortly afterward. Passengers and another pilot reported seeing the phenomenon, though the UK Ministry of Defense later dismissed the event as non-threatening and declined further investigation.
“I reported [it] to Jersey,” Capt. Bowyer recalled the incident: “They sent it to the Ministry of Defense, because they had to—I didn’t do that. And it was only some days [later] that it was confirmed that there was no threat to UK airspace.”
However, Bowyer contested this conclusion, noting that Jersey radar was a primary system and that the object was within UK airspace, not French. Gen. André reconstructed the incident using radar data and noted unexplained returns consistent with Bowyer’s account. He emphasized that military radar is tuned to detect conventional aircraft, so anomalous objects may go unrecorded or underreported.
Assessing Threats and Data Strategies
Dr. Joshua Pierson of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) addressed whether UAP poses a national security threat. He concluded that UAP signatures point to technology far beyond known capabilities and are unlikely to belong to the U.S. or its adversaries. Pierson proposed a four-point research strategy: analyzing UAP signatures across time and geography, incorporating human observation into scientific analysis, applying structured analytic techniques, and establishing coordinated data collection strategies.
SCU Executive Director Robert Powell followed with findings from his investigation into the 2008 Stephenville, Texas, mass UAP sighting. Radar and eyewitness data described a massive object performing low-speed and high-maneuverability movements inconsistent with known aircraft. One radar anomaly involved an object abruptly reversing direction at over 350 mph, which was confirmed by both radar and a ground witness.
Among all the testimonies gathered by the investigators at the time, one of the most puzzling came from a policeman, who described the object as “almost a city block across”. Powell added that the object, initially in a horizontal position, was registered via the policeman’s radar as moving at 27 mph, while performing a maneuver that raised it vertically from the side, before climbing up.
One of Powell’s most strange radar tracks showed objects following a North-West to South-East trajectory. During one radar detection, one of the objects traveled North at a speed exceeding 350 mph, then returned to its original trajectory by the time of the next radar scan, an apparent feat also confirmed by ground observations.
International Policy and Political Engagement
The day concluded with an international panel on UAP politics, co-hosted by The Debrief. Japanese Representative Yoshiharu Asakawa opened the session, addressing the efforts of a bipartisan Diet Members Caucus he initiated “to appeal more strongly to the government to promote policies on UAP.”
“This is currently being coordinated,” Asakawa said, also calling for the creation of a dedicated government department to investigate UAPs, making the announcement publicly for the first time.
Other panelists included Rich Hoffman, an Executive Board Member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, who emphasized the global implications of UAP activity and called for renewed international cooperation similar to Cold War-era agreements.
“Every country should be concerned about the Defense of its population,” Hoffman said. “It needs to be looking at [UAP] from the standpoint of understanding what potential threat that it is, if it is indeed a threat or if it’s not a threat.”
“That should be determined using science,” Hoffman said.
Rony Vernet, a Petrobras executive, disclosed that he had gained access to Brazilian government documents describing close encounters with indigenous communities in the Amazon involving silent, low-altitude craft emitting beams of light.
“We are not talking about distant luminous lights, or dubious phenomena,” Vernet said. “We are talking about machines of some kind, sometimes cylindrical or spherical, in different shapes and sizes, that descend to ground level without noise, in a blink of an eye, and shoot light beams towards indigenous people in the middle of the Amazon.”
Questioned by The Debrief about the political response on site, Vernet said that the Brazilian government’s approach was to use intelligence methods instead of launching a scientific investigation. “They don’t bring scientific equipment. They don’t collect data. They just get testimonies,” Vernet said.
“They can’t explain what’s happening,” he added, emphasizing that a scientific investigation should be initiated, although funding for such research is currently limited.
Joachim Dekkers of the UAP Coalition Netherlands discussed progress in engaging Dutch infrastructure and defense ministries, and Pierre Bescond, chair of GEIPAN’s Steering Committee, advocated for international collaboration, noting that the stigma around UAP is finally eroding thanks to more open discussion from the U.S.
The panel unanimously supported the San Marino initiative to bring the UAP issue under the United Nations’ purview. As Luc Dini, Alain Juillet, and other panelists stressed, global coordination and data sharing will be key to advancing UAP research and understanding.
UAP Materials and the Human Element
The second day of the 3AF Sigma 2 UAP conference opened with a detailed presentation by Dr. Gérard Labaune, an expert in electromagnetic radiation, who revisited the famous Tehran UAP incident.
The case, which occurred in 1976, involved two Iranian F-4 Phantom II jets lost communication and weapons control systems while attempting to intercept a UAP. Labaune reported that radar systems recorded the object with a cross-section equivalent to a Boeing 707. Communications were lost at a distance of 45 kilometers from the object for both jets, one after the other. When the second jet attempted to fire a missile, its weapons system failed. According to Labaune, replicating such effects would require a power source on the order of 1,000 gigawatts per gigahertz squared—well beyond any known 1970s technology.
“It seems that in the Tehran case, the sources are not man-made,” he concluded.
Geoffrey Mestchersky followed with a provocative statistical analysis suggesting that UAP crashes may not be as rare as previously believed. He then presented findings based on materials reportedly recovered from the 1957 Ubatuba incident in Brazil. Contrary to earlier studies claiming the debris was pure magnesium, Mestchersky’s analysis showed the samples contained silicon, more closely resembling unusual debris found at Council Bluffs in the U.S. Those samples, studied by Drs. Garry Nolan and Jacques Vallée were found to be an incomplete mixture of highly pure elements. Mestchersky proposed that Ubatuba debris might share a similarly complex and poorly understood origin.
Ian Porritt of the SCU then presented joint research with Larry Hancock on historical UAP activity from 1945 to 1975 near U.S. military nuclear facilities. Their pattern recognition analysis revealed key shifts over time, including a transition from daytime to nighttime sightings and a decrease in associated electromagnetic emissions.
Anne Tyler’s presentation addressed the psychological and sociological impact of UAP encounters on pilots. She introduced two initiatives: the Pilots & UAP Research Project, which gathers testimony from pilots worldwide and supports their well-being, and EPIC (Empowering Pilots Integration and Community), which provides a support network for post-encounter group discussions.
Frédéric Courtade, the current head of GEIPAN, shared several past cases in which ground effects initially attributed to UAP were later explained by mundane causes. These examples underscore the need for careful, data-driven analysis and the limitations of older or incomplete case files.
Electromagnetic Effects and Exotic Propulsion
Dr. Kevin Knuth presented a case analysis of EM effects, showing how powerful EM fields could be responsible for some of the effects reported by UAP observers. For example, he showed how it could shut down and start a gas engine or disturb neurological activity.
Next, propulsion expert Pierre Marx discussed electrogravitics, a theoretical method by which high-energy electromagnetic fields might distort spacetime. He suggested this model could explain some UAP flight characteristics. However, Marx noted that current human power generation capabilities are insufficient to replicate or test such effects in laboratory conditions. If UAP were using this form of propulsion, he added, they would almost certainly not be human-made.
Olivier Goretta presented an analysis of the Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) produced under the U.S. government’s AAWSAP program. These documents, he argued, were not merely speculative research but feasibility studies exploring exotic technologies, including UAP detectors. Goretta noted that while AAWSAP functioned as an investigation program, many DIRDs lacked integration with data gathered from hotspots like Skinwalker Ranch. One oversight he highlighted was the failure to anticipate the use of artificial intelligence to sift through complex datasets for UAP indicators—a missed opportunity in his view.
Robert Powell returned to the stage to deliver the final presentation, a meta-analysis connecting the physical descriptions of UAP with their observed flight behavior and accompanying effects, such as EM emissions and sound signatures. His work pointed toward categorizing UAP by type and behavior, using consistent algorithms to parse vast databases of sightings.
Military Testimony and Closing Reflections
The final segment of the 3AF Sigma 2 UAP conference featured a powerful testimony panel co-hosted by Sigma 2 and The Debrief, bringing together military personnel and pilots to recount their firsthand experiences with Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena. Over two and a half hours, witnesses offered deeply personal and often striking accounts of encounters that continue to defy explanation.
Among the most prominent voices was retired U.S. Navy Chief-at-Arms Sean Cahill, who was stationed aboard the USS Princeton during the now-infamous 2004 Nimitz incident. Cahill credited senior radar operator Kevin Day with identifying the anomalous objects and initiating the chain of events that led to the encounter. He recounted his follow-up investigation near Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, where he interviewed locals who claimed such phenomena had been observed for generations, dating back over 150 years.
“It’s very clear that there is an international Five Eyes investigation that has occurred, that there has been governmental involvement, and that policy has been made,” Cahill said. “The public is not privy to those things. We have no understanding of this phenomenon in an official capacity, and we are left in the dark and gas lit by that effort.”
Rear Admiral Xavier Houdaille shared his own account from June 25, 1976, when he was flying an Étendard IV M fighter jet near Brittany. Just before dawn, he and his leader encountered two high-intensity lights. Though air traffic control reported no radar returns, others on the ground, including fishermen and hikers, later corroborated the sighting. They reported that the lights ascended rapidly into space and reappeared after the aircraft had left the area.
General Bruno Mignot also testified to a dramatic encounter while piloting a military transport plane during nighttime landing exercises on November 5, 1990. He observed what he initially believed to be an immense aircraft, shaped like a “huge aircraft carrier” with orange lights, flying level with his own plane at an altitude of just 500 meters. While official explanations later attributed the sighting to the re-entry of a Russian Proton rocket stage, Mignot rejected that theory, noting discrepancies such as the object’s truncated trail and low altitude. He added that, remarkably, the Ministry of Defense authorized him to speak publicly the very next day, suggesting the French government did not view the event as a matter of national defense.
Brigadier General Jean-Marc André, formerly in charge of France’s military space program, offered an institutional perspective. Despite the scale of the November 1990 sightings, he revealed that no emergency protocols were triggered by the French Air and Space Force. “The phenomenon was not considered dangerous in terms of air defense,” he said, adding that he only learned of the event from news reports the next day.
André emphasized the deep disconnect between public concern and official military calm. In his view, UAPs are not yet treated as a defense issue in France. He detailed the challenges of investigating UAP incidents, particularly the complexity of gathering and interpreting data from diverse sensor systems with varying calibration. Nonetheless, he affirmed the importance of persistence in uncovering credible signatures buried in noise.
The panel concluded with a final question: Should UAP phenomena be incorporated into the training of military and civilian aviation personnel? All panelists agreed—except General André, who argued that aircrew training is already too intensive to accommodate what he characterized as “benign rare events.”
“If the subject is important enough, yes,” he said. “But for the moment, it’s just interesting. We are trying to know; we are investigating.”
Baptiste Friscourt is a certified visual arts instructor based in France. You can follow his work online via Sentinel News on Substack.