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Suspected UFO streaks spooky lights across Spain and France
The erratic contrails were clearly visible in France and parts of northern Spain
On the evening of Monday June 26, there was a frenzy of social media activity as baffled stargazers in both Spain and France posted photos of an unusual jet plum streaking across the night skies.
The object was recorded zooming at alarming speed in erratic directions, leaving behind zig-zagging white contrails that many onlookers speculated could only come from some kind of unidentified flying object (UFO).
The sheer altitude of the mysterious aircraft means it was first visible shortly after 10pm in Biscarrosse in western France but it could soon be seen in Bordeaux, Toulouse and northern Spain.
The real explanation was a little less dramatic though no less interesting. Around 2,000 kilometres of restricted maritime space has been set up between June 26 and 30 near the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA) missile testing site in Biscarrosse that stretches into the Bay of Biscay and the Celtic Sea.
Today, the DGA has confirmed that it carried out a test launch of the V-MAX hypersonic glider demonstrator on Monday night, which is what mystified onlookers would have witnessed.“Equipped with many on-board technological innovations, this flight test was an unprecedented technical challenge that prepares the future of our national hypervelocity roadmap,” the DGA explained.
“France is one of the only countries in the world to have credible expertise in this field.”
When the glider was launched, a rocket-propelled weapon was sent shooting into space before its payload tumbled back to earth erratically and at hypersonic speed; this is what created the unusual patterns of white trails.
Image 1: Meteo Pyrenees
Image 2: Direction generale de l’armement
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