Expediente Número 680517: Avistamiento de Fenómenos Extraños (Ovni) - Lérida, 17 de Mayo de 1968

This document is a declassified report regarding an unidentified aerial object sighted over Lérida, Spain, on May 17, 1968. The incident began at approximately 10:00 local time when pilots of two F-86 Sabre aircraft from the 102 Squadron reported a metallic, static object composed of two superposed bodies. The object was detected by the EVA-1 radar at an altitude of 76,000 feet with a slight upward movement. Subsequent attempts by the F-86s to intercept the object were unsuccessful due to fuel limitations. Later that morning, two F-104 Starfighters from the 104 Squadron were dispatched to investigate. The pilots reported the object's shape as resembling an inverted spearhead, a squid, or an aircraft with fuel tanks on its wingtips. Despite reaching 59,000 feet, the pilots could not obtain clear photographs due to the 7-kilometer altitude difference and adverse conditions, resulting in fogged film. The object was tracked by radar until 18:00 local time, when contact was lost at an altitude of 83,000 feet. The intelligence assessment concluded that the sighting was highly likely caused by a stratospheric balloon launched by the French Centre National D'Essais Spatiaux (CNES), which had been conducting a series of launches in Spain during that period. The radar echoes were attributed to the balloon's payload, which included a radar reflector and scientific instruments suspended by a 250-meter cable. The report recommends declassifying the incident as it does not warrant continued classification.