Black triangle (UFO)

"This article is about UFO's: for other uses see the disambiguation page Black triangle".

"Black triangles" is the name given to a class of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) with certain common features which have reportedly been observed from the 1940s (and possibly earlier) to the present. They have appeared most commonly over cities of the United States and England, but have been spotted worldwide, including a mass sighting over St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 19, 1997.

Since that event, hundreds of observers have reported enormous, totally silent, black triangular craft hovering or slowly cruising at low altitudes over cities and highways, usually at night and making no attempt to evade detection. The craft are even described by many observers as having some sort of "running lights", either bright white lights or pulsing colored lights. These lights usually appear at each corner of the triangle. Sometimes a red pulsating light is seen at the center.

These objects are also sometimes known by the names "big black deltas" (BBDs) and "flying triangles". No conclusive explanation has been found for black triangles. Accordingly, their origin and existence remain shrouded in mystery.

Reported Sightings

Unknown to many, triangular-shaped UFOs have been reported since the 1940s. Accounts of flying triangles, wedges, or boomerangs have increased dramatically since the 1990s. The sightings report clearly visible objects over densely populated areas and highways, mostly in the United States and England, but other parts of the world as well. A geographic distribution of U.S. sightings has been correlated by a currently inactive American-based investigative organization, the National Institute for Discovery Science, which led to a July 2002 report which suggested that the craft may belong to the U.S. Air Force [cite web| url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5897539 |title = David, L. 2004, Sept. "Flying Triangle" sightings on the rise, MSNBC] ; however, a subsequent report in August 2004 by the same organization (NIDS) found that the rash of sightings did "not" conform to previous deployment of black project aircraft and that the objects' origins and agendas were unknown [cite web| url = http://www.nidsci.org/articles/8_25trireport.php
title = NIDS Report August 2004| accessdate = 2008-01-27| author = | format = HTML] .

Typical Sightings

Most black triangle reports indicate that the craft are at least 200 ft (60 m) long and similar to the dimensions of a typical football field in width. They typically appear silently and seemingly "out of nowhere", drifting a few hundred feet or less above the ground. Black triangles are usually described as moving very slowly or hovering in one place for varying periods of time, sometimes even landing. The craft are also sometimes reported to be capable of sudden, rapid acceleration, as is often mentioned in descriptions of other types of UFOs.

Some triangular UFO reports are likely sightings of one or more black projects under development by the U.S. military and contractors. However, the facts that triangles are usually reported in and around populated areas and the that they putatively make no effort to evade detection cast doubt on whether such sightings are of military craft. (Of course, large populations have more eyes with which to make sightings.) This in comparison to the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit stealth aircraft, which were sighted only occasionally during testing over sparsely populated areas of the Southwest United States such as Groom Lake (Area 51), usually at night and by dedicated civilian observers of military aircraft. The absence of noise rules out the possibility that black triangles could be these aircraft.

Rendlesham Forest Incident

A pyramid-shaped craft was reported to have landed near an American air base at Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England, on December 27, 1980. Military personnel reported having approached at least one landed craft in the forest and observed it in great detail before it once again took flight. Another craft was observed landing in an open field near the base and then taking off at incredible speed. Between 2002 and 2005, reporter Bryant Gumbel hosted a series of exclusive SciFi Channel documentaries, one of which, entitled "UFO Invasion at Rendlesham", focused on this incident. Gumbel interviewed some of the men involved with the sighting, and the documentary toured some of the scenes, attempting to gather evidence that something landed in the forest. The History Channel also aired an episode of UFO Files on the incident, calling it "Britain's Roswell".

Moscow Night Sightings

An especially interesting sighting occurred near Moscow on March 12, 1990. Several groups of UFOs were seen, some of which were spheres and discs, and some of which appeared to be huge triangular craft. Many local people spent the night on their rooftops watching these silent objects dart through the sky. In fact, during early 1990, it appears that Russia had more, and more spectacular, UFO cases than did Belgium. The CIA retained several accounts of this wave from the Soviet Russian media,Fact|date=February 2007 although CIA reports themselves, assuming they exist, have yet to be released.

The Belgian Air Force Report

On March 30, 1990, citizens of the city of Brussels spotted a large black triangular craft hovering silently over the city for several minutes. Local police officials arrived on the scene and reported observing the object as it hovered over apartment buildings. One officer reported that the object released a red glowing disk of light from its center which flew down to the ground and darted around several buildings before disappearing. The larger craft eventually departed at high speed.

The Belgian Air Force scrambled F-16s to pursue the craft once it was spotted on ground radar systems. The fighter pilots and radar operators reported that the object would dart ahead at incredible speeds every time they finally had a radar lock on it. One pilot reported the object's speed at over 900 knots. After nine confirmed target locks the object finally vanished from their screens.

The Belgian Air Force has gone on record with the details of its black triangle pursuit. [History Channel. see UFO Files for episode details] It released its radar video footage and its conclusions, ruling out the following origins of the object in question:

* Balloons. Impossible due to the highly variable speeds (confirmed visually and by radar).
* Ultralight (ULM). Same as for balloons.
* UAV. Impossible due to the hovering characteristics.
* Aircraft (including Stealth). Same as for RPV. No noise.
* Laser projections or mirages. Unlikely due to lack of projection surface (no clouds). Light spots have been observed from different locations. Light spots moved over distance of more than 15 nautical miles (28 km). Form of unlighted part of spots has been observed with spectacles. Laser projections or mirages can not be detected by radar.

The report concludes that the Belgian Air Force was "unable to identify either the nature or the origin of the phenomenon." However, the description of the craft, the speeds, the maneuverability and the dates of observation are rumored — but, as with many black projects, not confirmed — to correspond with flight times of a TR-3B Astra, a USAF spyplane conjectured by ufologists. This craft is rumored to be related to the TR-3A Black Manta, with a maximum Earth atmosphere speed of sub-Mach 9 – which can explain why the F-16s never managed to catch up with it, and it has been suggested that it was tested over numerous parts of the world during the early 1990s.

It should be noted that some subsequent studies present a much more cautious and skeptical view of the events discussed in the Belgian Air Force report, disputing both the accuracy of some of the statements made in that report and the interpretation of the events described.

"The Intruder"

In a 1992 event, unreported until March 2007, a black triangle was spotted and filmed over the skies of Phoenix, Arizona. Not much is known about the sighting, as only one video has surfaced, which was featured on local Phoenix news network 3TV. The video was nicknamed "The Intruder". [cite web| url = http://www.azfamily.com/unexplained/stories/KTVKUnEx20070313_show.e1ffc17.html
title = The Phoenix Lights X| accessdate = 2007-06-04| author = | format = HTML]

Illinois Police Sighting Incident

On January 5, 2000, beginning shortly after 4:00 am, five on-duty Illinois police officers in separate locations sighted and reported a massive, unidentified triangular aircraft. Two of the five officers reported flight characteristics which do not conform to currently known civilian technologies, as the object appeared to move at incredible speeds without making any sound. Sightings in Highland, Illinois, by a civilian who first reported to the local police department and subsequent sightings took place in Lebanon, Summerfield, Shiloh, Millstadt, Dupo, and O'Fallon. Scott Air Force Base public relations office denied any knowledge of the event. The incident was featured in Peter Jennings' final ABC special, "UFOs: Seeing is Believing". The event has been addressed by several U.S. cable television programs and one independent documentary.

This story was also featured in 2005 on a segment of the SciFi Channel paranormal investigation series "Proof Positive" (episode #108). To substantiate that the police officers did in fact witness the same unexplained aircraft, and that their reports correlated together, all five were given a lie detector test and asked various questions about the incident. All five officers passed the test and the show gave the story a "proof positive".

Popular Explanations

Black triangles are the subject of much speculation in the ufology community and various conspiracy theories, as well as more mundane, skeptical hypotheses. Explanations include:

* craft of extraterrestrial origin.
* the Aurora, an alleged hypersonic spy plane.
* common misidentifications of one or more conventional aircraft.
* a psychological phenomenon, such as the availability of previous reports influencing suggestible witnesses.
* B-2A Spirit stealth bomber

Because black triangles are, by definition, unidentified objects, the merits of these hypotheses are undemonstrated. Further, it is unknown how many of the sightings even have a common explanation. No government has claimed responsibility.

Black Triangles in Fiction

*The event was recently featured as the basis of a song on Sufjan Stevens' 2005 concept album, "Illinois", as the first track, entitled "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois".
*Several triangle ships have been featured in "The X-Files" television series. In the first episode of the series (excluding the pilot), for example, many photographs, and an appearance, are shaped in the obvious form of a triangle.
*In the "Futurama" episode "Roswell That Ends Well", the conspiracy theorist's photograph of Harry Truman, when developed, is a pair of black triangles.

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-pFPjkD8E] Animated recreation of a sighting in Belgrade, Serbia 2006
* [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/9054/ufobelg.html Belgian Triangle incidents, 1989 1991]
* [http://www.nidsci.org/articles/dolan.php What are the Triangles?]
* [http://dbarkertv.com/UPDATE.htm Account of the January 5, 2000 Illinois police triangle sighting.]
* [http://dbarkertv.com/fthistory.htm A historical record of triangular UFO]
* [http://space.com/businesstechnology/flying_triangle_040902.html Summary of the Black Triangle UFO phenomenon from Space.Com]
* [http://www.ufocasebook.com www.ufocasebook.com/Search:Flying Triangles]
* [http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/ Black Triangle compendium with investigative reports and research]