The night of the F-16's -> Belgium flap -> Homeclick!

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The Belgium flap:

March 31, 1990, the night of the F-16 - one of the F-16 airborne radar records:

Intro

1. How to read data on the Head Up Display (HUD) video frames:

(1)The radar range. Here it is set to 10 nautical miles. 10 nautical miles in an intercept is when things get serious.
(2)The radar mode. Here it is set to "Air-to-Air" mode; this AN/APG66(V1) radar has 6 different operation modes. The Air-to-Air mode is designed to eliminate any echo below an altitude of 200 meters above the ground, to filter for example ground clutter.
(3)The altitude of the target. Here, "05" means 5.000 feet.
(4)The most recently detected targets are indicated by squares. When locked, the target is indicated by this rhombus symbol seen here. To "lock" a target, the pilot chooses a target picked up by the radar, drags the cursor (the two parallel lines above the "W" here) on its most recent "square" and presses a button. The radar then explicitly shows the target with this symbol and the radar computer displays information about this target.
(5)Data about the locked-on target are indicated: its heading (270° here), its speed in Knots (780 Knots here, the Knot is a unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour), its relative angular horizontal position to the aircraft (60° at the right of the aircraft here).
(6)The W symbolizes the aircraft, it shows its pitch in relation to the horizon. Here it shows that the F-16 is turning to the right.
(7)This line represents the horizon of the Earth. (6) and (7) indicate here that the aircraft maneuvering to close in on the target (the UFO) at its right. The pilot needs to turn at a particular angle for the target not to keep drifting farther away, but he must also keep it away from collision course.
(8)The heading of the F-16.
(9)The target's radial closing speed in knots, positive when the F-16 is closing to the target.
Legend

2. The video frames from the HUD video recording:

The sequence underneath lasts 7 seconds. I split the video in a high number of frames, 119 frames, so that every event can be seen and commented. This means that the time between two frames is less that 0.0588 seconds less than 1/100th of a second.

Frame #1:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
FrameThe radar eliminates all that is not moving and when it detects a mobile target, it paints a square there on the HUD. The squares slowly fade, the most recent is the most shining. The little squares here are the latest positions of the target; it shows that it was painted at least 6 times already when this recording portion starts. The pilot "locks on" by choosing the most shining by moving a cursor onto it using a joystick and pressing a button when chosen. Here the target was already detected and locked on.
Frame #2:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
FrameYou will see the squares slowly fading off one after the other in the next displays.
Frame #3:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #4:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #5:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #6:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #7:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #8:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #9:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #10:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #11:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #12:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #13:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #14:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #15:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #16:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #17:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #18:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #19:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #20:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #21:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #22:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #23:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #24:

UFO altitude: 10.000 ft
UFO speed: 570 K
Frame
Frame #25:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #26:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #27:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #28:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #29:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #30:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #31:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #32:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #33:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #34:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #35:

UFO altitude: 7.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #36:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #37:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #38:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #39:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 770 K
Frame
Frame #40:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #41:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #42:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #43:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #44:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #45:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #46:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #47:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #48:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #49:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #50:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #51:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #52:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #53:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #54:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #55:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #56:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #57:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #58:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #59:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #60:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #61:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #62:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #63:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #64:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #65:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #66:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #67:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #68:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #69:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #70:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #71:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #72:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #73:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #74:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #75:

UFO altitude: 5.000 ft
UFO speed: 790 K
Frame
Frame #76:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #77:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #78:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #79:

UFO altitude: 6.000 ft
UFO speed: 780 K
Frame
Frame #80:

UFO altitude: 4.000?? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is lost.
Frame #81:

UFO altitude: 4.000?? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is lost.
Frame #82:

UFO altitude: 4.000?? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is lost.
Frame #83:

UFO altitude: 4.000?? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is lost.
Frame #84:

UFO altitude: 4.000?? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is lost.
Frame #85:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameTarget is locked on again.
Frame #86:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #87:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #88:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #89:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #90:

UFO altitude: 4.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #91:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
FrameAltitude is computed.
Frame #92:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #93:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #94:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #95:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #96:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #97:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #98:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #99:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #100:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #101:

UFO altitude: 3.000? ft
UFO speed: ? K
Frame
Frame #102:

UFO altitude: 3.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #103:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #104:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #105:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #106:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #107:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #108:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #109:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #110:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #111:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #112:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #113:

UFO altitude: 2.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #114:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
FrameAltitude is computed.
Frame #115:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #116:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #117:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #118:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame
Frame #119:

UFO altitude: 1.000 ft
UFO speed: 990 K
Frame

Data set from the HUD video frames:

Frame #: Time: UFO altitude: UFO speed: UFO position: UFO heading: F-16 position: F-16 heading: Event:
Feet Meters Knots Km/h
10.000010.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
20.058810.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
30.117610.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
40.176510.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
50.235310.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
60.294110.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
70.352910.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
80.411810.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
90.470610.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
100.529410.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
110.588210.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
120.647110.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
130.705910.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
140.764710.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
150.823510.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
160.882410.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
170.941210.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
181.000010.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
191.058810.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
201.117610.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
211.176510.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
221.235310.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
231.294110.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
241.352910.00030485701056 ° ° right ° ° right
251.41187.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed, speed is computed.
261.47067.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
271.52947.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
281.58827.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
291.64717.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
301.70597.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
311.76477.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
321.82357.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
331.88247.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
341.94127.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
352.00007.00021347701426 ° ° right ° ° right
362.05886.00018297701426 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed.
372.11766.00018297701426 ° ° right ° ° right
382.17656.00018297701426 ° ° right ° ° right
392.23536.00018297701426 ° ° right ° ° right
402.29416.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° rightSpeed is computed.
412.35296.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
422.41186.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
432.47066.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
442.52946.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
452.58826.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
462.64716.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
472.70596.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
482.76476.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
492.82356.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
502.88246.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
512.94126.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
523.00005.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed.
533.05885.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° right
543.11765.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° right
553.17655.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° right
563.23535.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° right
573.29415.00015247801445 ° ° right ° ° right
583.35295.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° rightSpeed is computed.
593.41185.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
603.47065.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
613.52945.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
623.58825.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
633.64715.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
643.70595.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
653.76475.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
663.82355.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
673.88245.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
683.94125.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
694.0005.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
704.05885.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
714.11765.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
724.17655.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
734.23535.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
744.29415.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
754.35295.00015247901463 ° ° right ° ° right
764.41186.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed, speed is computed.
774.47066.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
784.52946.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
794.58826.00018297801445 ° ° right ° ° right
804.6471(4.000)(1219)N/AN/A ° ° right ° ° rightTarget lock is lost.
814.7059(4.000)(1219)N/AN/A ° ° right ° ° rightTarget lock is lost.
824.7647(4.000)(1219)N/AN/A ° ° right ° ° rightTarget lock is lost.
834.8235(4.000)(1219)N/AN/A ° ° right ° ° rightTarget lock is lost.
844.8824(4.000)(1219)N/AN/A ° ° right ° ° rightTarget lock is lost.
854.94124.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° rightTarget is locked again.
865.0004.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed.
875.05884.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
885.11764.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
895.17654.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
905.23534.0001219(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
915.29413.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed.
925.35293.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
935.41183.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
945.47063.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
955.52943.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
965.58823.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
975.64713.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
985.70593.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
995.76473.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
1005.82353.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
1015.88243.000914(?)(?) ° ° right ° ° right
1025.94123.0009149901834 ° ° right ° ° rightSpeed is computed.
1036.00002.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed.
1046.05882.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1056.11762.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1066.17652.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1076.23532.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1086.29412.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1096.35292.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1106.41182.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1116.47062.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1126.52942.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1136.58822.0006099901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1146.64711.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° rightAltitude is computed, "02" becomes "01".
1156.70591.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° rightYou can see that the UFO is now at altitude "01", i.e. at 1000 feet or under 1000 feet. Some authors claimed that the case is "fake" or the UFO "impossible" because, they claim the UFO went "below ground level" but this is silly. The UFO went down to altitude 1000 feet, this is all that can be said, and the ground altitude is lower, at an average between 400 and 500 feet.
1166.76471.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° rightWhen the UFO is below 1000 feet, it escapes radar detection both from the ground radar sets and the F-16 radar sets.
1176.82351.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1186.88241.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° right
1196.94121.0003059901834 ° ° right ° ° right

Data set from the HUD video frames:

From the data set from the HUD video frames, where the duration is sliced in 119 steps, events such as measurements by the F-16's equipment is clearly visible.

The following table shows the measurements of the UFO altitude at each time it was measured, with in addition the initial value and the end value:

Note that there was possibly a measurement between frame 1 and frame 25, with no change in altitude, making that measurement unnoticeable.

Frame #: Time in seconds: UFO altitude in meters:
1 0.0000 3048
25 1.4118 2134
36 2.0588 1829
52 3.0000 1524
76 4.4118 1829
86 5.000 1219
91 5.2941 914
103 6.000 609
114 6.6471 305
119 6.9412 305

From the values in the above table, this graph of the UFO altitude versus time is built:

Document history.

<> Version: Created/changed by: Date: Description: 0.1 Patrick Gross April 25, 2008 Drafting started. 0.1 Patrick Gross April 26, 2008 Preview of unfinished draft communicated to 1 ufologist.

Feedback history.

<> Date: From: Content: Response: First publication. - - - -

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This page was last updated on May 28, 2008.