Report from Namibia (B): hovering object over Aroab

What was reported

On the morning of 24 November 1983 an Aroab farmer, a South African Airways pilot and the police all saw an object in a clear sky. The pilot reported light coming from its eastern side and put it at about 12 km altitude, roughly 80 km west of Aroab, having come from the east. The farmer saw it hovering above him and thought something hung beneath it. An appended comment says it is almost impossible to check back to 1983 but the description strongly suggests the French stratospheric balloons released from Pretoria: 40-metre aluminium-topped balloons that reflect sunlight brilliantly, carry two or three dangling appendages, drop to 8,000 ft at night and rise to 140,000 ft by day, circle the Earth in the 25-30 degree longitude belt, and are usually released in May, June and November.

What Hind made of it

The comment (Hind or Roeis) says it is almost impossible to check back to 1983 but the case sounds suspiciously like the French satellite balloons.

Explanation offered
French stratospheric research balloon released from Pretoria, 40 m diameter with 2-3 appendages, reflecting sunlight

In their words

• this case sounds suspiciously similar to the French satellite balloons released from Pretoria, South Africa.

Cross references

• Case 28 (A)
• Case 28 (C)

Source

Cynthia Hind, UFO Afrinews No 4 (March 1991), spread 08

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