FRENCHGOVERNMENTUFOSTUDY "PresentationtotheScientific CounselofG.E.P.A.N.ofStudies UndertakenDuringtheFirst Semesterof1978,"(June1978,5 volumes,approximately500pages). ThisreportoftheFrench governmentalUFOstudygroup GEPANIdocumentsthestudies carriedoutby the group during the first partof 1978.Threespecialgroups (rapidintervention,physicaltraces, radaralert) werecreatedaspartof the studygroup'sfunctions, but they were Httleusedduring 1978.Instead,thebulk of work wasdevotedto 11casesof high credibilityandhighstrangeness.Eieven suchcaseswerestudiedin great detail; onlyoneprovedto have a conventional explanation.In theother10, itappeared .thatthedistancebetweenthe witnesses andtheobjectswas less than250 meters.Of the five volumesofthe report,threewere entirelydevotedto analysis ofthese11cases, oneof which was pre-1978.Theearliest was1966. Two of thecaseswere humanoidsightings. Theanalysisandinvestigationwas carriedout.by afour-Personteamin eachcase;theteam included a psychologist,whoseparatelycarried outapsychologicalexamination relevantto theevaluation of the testimonyofthewitnesses. Thecare with whichdistances,angles,and psychologicalfactorswereevaluated the bulk of theCondonReport seemverypoorbycomparison.In manycases,the investigationswere textbookmodelsofhow.such investigationsshouldbecarriedout. In10 ofthe11cases,the ~lusionwasthatthewitnesseshad witnesseda materialphenomenonthat couldnotbeexplainedas anatura) phenomenonora humandevice.One oftheconclusionsof the totalreportis thatbehindthe overallphenomenon thereisa "flying machine. . .whose modesofsustenanceandpropulsion arebeyondourknowledge." GEPANwascreatedin 1977, thedirectionof Dr.Claude Poher.Poherhas nowresigned,feeling thathehasdoneeverythinghe could do with themethodsat hand.Nonetheless, theorganizationhasnotbeen disbandedbutcontinuesits work. During 1977, itwaslargelyconcerned withcheckingPoher'sstatistics,which itapproved. During 1978, ithas expandeditsoperationinto the investigation ofactualcases.It alertedtoactualcasesbyteletypeby theGendarmerie,theFrenchnational police force. Theabovereporthas reportedlybeenapprovedbyGEPAN's supervisoryscientificcounsel. Note: the originalreport limitedto 120or140copiesandwas secret.Itisnotavailable for general dissemination, andin anycaseis in French.Thereis extensivecoveragein thereportof theTeherancase,but nothingbeyondwhatis.known to Americanresearchers;it was not one of t1'1reIevencasesstudied,allof which were inFrance. !Groupd'EtudesDesPhenomenesAero- spatiauxNonldentifJeeS itdidstudytwonocturnallightcases, bothofwhichendeduplabelled"unidentified".._ (SubmittedbyRonWestrum.)