DISCLOSURE / FILE
Belgian Air Force radar trace charts from the March 30–31, 1990 F-16 interception over central Belgium, presented by Col. Wilfried De Brouwer at NATO headquarters in Evere on July 11, 1990.
Belgian Air Force radar trace charts from the March 30–31, 1990 F-16 interception over central Belgium, presented by Col. Wilfried De Brouwer at NATO headquarters in Evere on July 11, 1990.
On the night of March 30–31, 1990, the Glons NATO Control Reporting Centre and Semmerzake air traffic control radar tracked unidentified targets over central Belgium, prompting two F-16s to scramble from Beauvechain. Across nine interception attempts the F-16 onboard radars logged six lock-ons at 5–8 nautical miles, with recorded traces showing targets accelerating from roughly 150 km/h to over 1,100 km/h and shifting altitude between 150 m and 3,000 m within seconds. The Belgian Air Force described the performance as beyond the possibilities of existing technology. Col. Wilfried De Brouwer, Chief of Operations, presented the declassified charts at a press conference at NATO HQ in Evere, Brussels, on July 11, 1990.