An official at the National Space Studies Centre (CNES), said the French database of around 1,600 UFO sightings and other phenomens will publish online in late January or mid-February to protect them from pestering by space fanatics.
Documents from almost 30 years was collected archived and studied, Jacques Arnould told. Almost 6000 reports, many relating to the same incident, filed by the public and airline professionals.
"Often they are made to the Gendarmerie, which provides an official witness statement and some come from airline pilots" he said by telephone.
The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public establishment of industrial and commercial character"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris. It operates out of the Centre Spatial Guyanais, but also has payloads launched from other space centres operated by other countries. CNES formerly was responsible for the training of French astronauts, however the last of them were transferred to the European Space Agency in 2001.
Founded in 1961, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) is the government agency responsible for shaping and implementing France's space policy in Europe.
Source: Reuters
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