Date:
March 29, 1974
Location: Lomé, Togo
A
French worker on vacation on the coast of Togo, along
with a Togolese woman, were on the beach when they noticed
a sharp whistle coming from the sea. They saw a dark mass
which approached from over water and which stopped at
200-300 m in front of the witnesses. Suddenly, three bright
lights from the object paralyzed the witnesses. Several
physiological effects plagued the man afterwards, including
deaf spells, fainting, and anxiety.
Drawing of the object and the depression under it, in
the sea, according a sketch by the
witness. Drawing by Joel Mesnard. (credit: Waterufo.net/Phenomenes
Spatiaux)
Source:
Waterufo.net/Joel Mesnard, Phenomenes Spatiaux, Mar. '76
[excerpt
from the article]
By
Joel Mesnard
At
the end of March 1974, A.W. a French worker on vacation
on the coast of Togo, said to have been one of the witnesses
of a very interesting UFO sighting.
He
had spent the evening of 28 March in the company of a
Togolese woman, whom he had just met. From 11 p.m. to
1 a.m., they swam 2-3 km east of a large tourist hotel,
Tropicana, which is built next to the sea, a few km east
of Lomé. Then they spent a while on the beach,
near a dune where coconut trees grew. The night was dark
and the sky very clear. Many stars were visible.
At
1:45, when they began to leave the beach, A.W. and his
friend noticed a sharp whistle, very annoying, coming
from the sea. They saw a dark mass which approached from
over water and which stopped at 200-300 m in front of
the witnesses. They found themselves on dry sand but soon
a large wave then washed over them.
A
DEPRESSION AND A MINI-TIDAL WAVE
They
then were afraid of being dragged away in the water and
not being able to regain the shore. A.W. succeeded in
grabbing the trunk of a coconut palm. He held on with
his right arm, holding on to the woman with the other.
At their feet was now a continuous barrage of strong waves,
so that one instant before the sea came within 50 m of
the dune.
Suddenly,
three bright lights showed on the object, blinding the
witnesses. It was like three projections pointed in their
direction, other luminous beams coming from the sides
of the object, perhaps also from its upper side or from
the unseen side of it. Certain of the beams seemed oriented
upward, but A.W. could not confirm this, so much did the
three beams pointed toward shore blind him. In all the
light, it was white that dominated, but there was also
yellow, pink and blue-green. A.W. wore glasses that were
lightly tinted. He was struck by the blue and green colors
of the waves lighted by the object. The most interesting
detail of his recount concerned the surface of the sea
under the object. It was not flat but dug in the form
of a depression. A.W. estimated its depth at a few meters,
5 or 6 perhaps. Its diameter was comparable to the length
of the object, on the order of 25-30 meters.
PARALYZED
BY THE LIGHTS
Still
crouched by the coconut tree, legs in the water, the witnesses
didn't move. It was not astonishment or fear that paralyzed
them. The lights of the spotlights, according to A.W.,
were there for something. Although before the appearance
of the object, the temperature was mild and agreeable,
there was a heat in the lights that Mr. A.W. described
as terrifying. The woman and he were sweating profusely.
DEPARTURE
OF THE OBJECT
Suddenly,
a relative coolness was felt: the object moved away toward
the open sea very rapidly, without gaining altitude. Its
lights went out suddenly, and it disappeared. The night
became dark again and the sea went back to normal. It
was 2:05 a.m. by A.W.'s diving watch. The appearance of
the phenomenon lasted about 20 min.
The
witnesses started for the hotel Tropicana where they left
each other. Although the whistle had ceased with the departure
of the object, an annoying auditory sensation persisted
in both of them. A.W. asked his friend not to speak to
anyone about what they had seen. He feared being considered
crazy and perhaps being thrown into jail.
EFFECTS
FELT LATER BY A.W.
The
next morning, A.W. woke up and felt totally deaf, with
an impression of lightness or emptiness.
The
next day, he was suddenly burdened by an unexplainable
sleepiness and he fell on his bed like a sack of potatoes.
He slept three hours and woke with a headache which bothered
him greatly. The hotel receptionist gave him a couple
of pills which helped quickly.
He
had several fainting spells over the next few days. He
was affected a long time by what he considered a sequel
of his adventure. Since that day, he has felt very nervous,
although he is usually pretty calm. He has deaf spells
and sometimes feelings of suffocation accompanied by anxiety.
This
situation is getting better, bit-by-bit. But was persisting
still when I met A.W. almost two years after his observation.
We don't know the long-term effects on the woman.
Mr.
A.W is not interested in the problems poised by UFO appearances.
All the same, sometime after his adventure in Togo, he
observed one evening, near Thionville in Northwest France,
the passage in the sky of a blue ball of fire followed
by a red trail. Some friends to whom he had confided his
African adventure several months after, advised him to
report it to GEPA, to which he sent a detailed letter.
I met A.W. in February 1976 and his testimony appeared
sincere and disinterested. I noted that he did not try
to explain it and limited himself to describing it as
objectively as possible.
Source:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case794.htm