General Letty, as president of COMETA, points to the main theme of the report, which is that the accumulation of well documented observations compels us now to consider all hypotheses as to the origin of UFOs, especially extraterrestrial hypotheses. The committee then presents the contents of the study. The first part consists of the presentation of some remarkable cases from both France and other countries.

The report in its entirey is available here translated into english.

Part one consists of "facts and testimonies" from cases well know by researchers. One cases involves French Air Force fighter pilot, Colonel Claude Bose, who witnessed strange aerial phenomenon while on a training missing on March 3, 1976. While flying at 19,500 ft, Colonel Bose saw what he though were signal flares on the ground way off in the distance. Within 1 to 2 seconds, this flare exceeded the altitude of his aircraft by 5000 ft and leveled off. Then the object approached at a dizzying speed headed straight at Bose's aircraft, avoiding collision at the last possible second. Colonel Bose said the object was 1 to 2 meters in diameter with a bright white center, extended by a fluorenscent green tail, comparable to a comet. Cases such as this one are strengthened when similar sightings are reported by other credible witnesses.

The impressive list of COMETA members includes:

• General Bruno Lemoine, of the Air Force (FA of IHEDN)
• Admiral Marc Merlo, (FA of IHEDN)
• Michel Algrin, Doctor in Political Sciences, attorney at law (FA of IHEDN)
• General Pierre Bescond, engineer for armaments (FA of IHEDN)
• Denis Blancher, Chief National Police superintendent at the Ministry of the Interior
• Christian Marchal, chief engineer of the national Corps des Mines and Research Director at the National Office of Aeronautical Research (ONERA)
• General Alain Orszag, Ph.D. in physics, armaments engineer

Part two is titled "The Present State of Knowledge." It features an excerpt from a report on "flying disks" made by General Nathan Twining, head of Air Material Command, when sightings began to be widely reports in 1947. The conclusions of which are very explicit:

• The phenomenon reported is something real; it is not a matter of visions or the imagination.
• Disk-shaped objects the size of which is comparable to our aircraft do exist.
• It is possible that some sightings correspond to natural phenomena.
• The very high rate-of-climb observed, the maneuverability, and the escape maneuvers, when the disks are detected lead one to assume they are piloted or operated by remote control.
• Most witnesses describe objects with a metal surface that are circular or elliptical in shape, the upper portion of which is dome shaped, flying without making any noise in a formation of three to nine objects…

 

Part Three is titled, "UFOs and defense," and acknowledges that the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs cannot be ruled out, and that it is therefore necessary to study the consequences of that hypothesis at the strategic level, but also at the political, religious and media/public information levels. On page 37, it explains governments fear curiosity of the media concerning the UFO subject and that "broadcasting terrifying information could sow the seeds of panic among the population." The report references Orson Wells' 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast as one of the reasons for secrecy.