Over the last two centuries, humanity has made enormous technological progress. About 50 years ago, humans first set foot on the moon. Advances in healthcare have significantly extended life experience, and thanks to breakthroughs in telecommunications, information now circulates very rapidly.
Yet, despite these advances, numerous mysteries remain concerning several fundamental questions. The origin of man and his place in the universe are still not fully elucidated. As for the question of whether we are alone in the universe, the majority of researchers agree that the chances of extraterrestrial civilizations existing are very high.
Although officially no contact with an alien government has been established to date, the regular appearance of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) around the world attracts public attention and fuels much speculation.
Since the Roswell crash in the United States, the issue of UFOs has become a contentious subject that fuels many debates. The media, governments, and the scientific community's attitude oscillate between doubt and mockery. Moreover, ufology or the science that studies unexplained aerial phenomena is considered by many to be a discipline for eccentrics. However, facts are stubborn, and whether in the skies of Paris, London, Madrid, or Abidjan, strange flying devices make their appearances and completely elude all scientific explanation.
Governments have long understood the importance of creating a proper framework for studying these phenomena in preparation for the possibility of contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Last March 20th, for the first time, European Union deputies coordinated by Portuguese deputy Francisco Guerreiro organized a lengthy meeting during which ufologists from the old continent spoke on the subject of UFOs.
Eduardo Russo, a long-standing member of the UAP CHECK network and ufologist, was among the speakers. He pointed out that unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) are far from only concerning the United States and elaborated on the numerous cases of observations in Europe. While comparisons were made with the treatment of the UFO issue in the United States, the name of one continent, Africa, was not really mentioned during the discussions.
Are UFOs observed in Africa? Yes! So why does no one (or so few people) talk about it? The answer to this question is complex and echoes the complex situation in which African countries find themselves. Some of the UFO sighting cases that seem to confirm the presence of life outside our earth have been made in Africa. Two incidents will hold our attention.
The first is the famous Ariel primary school sighting that occurred in September 1994 in Zimbabwe. In total, about sixty children indicated they had seen strange ships land. From these ships, beings with a humanoid appearance but lacking nostrils emerged and established telepathic communication with them. Their messages were about the ecological risks the planet was facing. In 2024, 30 years after the facts, many of the children, now adults, have not changed their story. The Ariel School case has been the subject of many international investigations but has received little attention in Zimbabwe and Africa.
The second UFO sighting took place in 1954 in Madagascar when the country was a French colony. Under the astonished eyes of thousands of people, a black flying object vaguely resembling a cigar flew over the main avenue of Antananarivo less than one hundred meters (100 meters) from the ground.
The device emitted no noise. Its passage caused power outages, and the owners of livestock farms and domestic animals noticed an unusual agitation among the animals. This observation would prompt General de Gaulle to consider setting up an official French UFO study agency. The project came to fruition in 1977 with the creation of GEIPAN.
These two cases are far from being exceptions. In Africa, as everywhere else, UFO sightings have increased over the years. If the continent does not make much noise about this, it is partly due to a lack of interest from intellectuals towards the UFO question. For many of them, extraterrestrials, UFOs, and others, are a folly of the Western world and the white man.
The second reason is the laxity of the States. If they are not simply ignorant of the UFO question, many African executives believe they have more serious problems to solve. And for dictatorial regimes that seem to have bright days ahead on the continent, the most important thing is to stay in power. This general disinterest is reinforced by the attitude of a population who, overwhelmed by problems of access to energy, potable water, education, and health, does not have time to observe the sky.
This meeting between European deputies and ufologists should be interpreted as proof that all continents, regardless of their level of development, must take the UFO question seriously. Africa's lack of foresight has prevented the continent from finding its place in the train of history, a train that it has created as the cradle of humanity, on several occasions. The mistakes of the past must serve as a lesson for African leaders. The UFO question is not a delusion of the Western world. It is not a delusion at all. It is a very serious subject that deserves to be approached scientifically.
Regional institutions like the SADC, ECOWAS, or the African Union must pay more attention to these strange flying objects and set up, where possible, agencies grouping ufologists, scientists, and experts in other disciplines for an in-depth study of this question.
However, Africa's approach to this issue should not be a mere mimicry of the Western approach. The United States, in particular, and Europe to some extent, mainly analyze the UFO question through a security prism. Hollywood movies say a lot about this point of view: extraterrestrials are evil creatures coming to enslave humanity or destroy it.
No one can guarantee the good intentions of the occupants of these strange ships that fly over the cities and countryside of our blue planet for the moment. However, by diving into the deep roots of Africa, which emphasize hospitality and the importance of welcoming any foreign person, the continent's ufologists can propose a new approach to the study of unexplained aerial phenomena.
