In 1999 an important document was published in France entitled, UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for? ("Les Ovni Et La Defense: A quoi doit-on se préparer?"). This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense. The study was carried out over several years by an independent group of former "auditors" at the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense, or IHEDN, and by qualified experts from various fields. Before its public release, it has been sent to French President Jacques Chirac and to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. The report is prefaced by General Bernard Norlain of the Air Force, former Director of IHEDN, and it begins with a preamble by André Lebeau, former President of the National Center for Space Studies (Centre National D’études Spatiales), or CNES, the French equivalent of NASA. The group itself, collective author of the report, is an association of experts, many of whom are or have been auditors of IHEDN, and it is presided over by General Denis Letty of the Air Force, former auditor (FA) of IHEDN.

COMETA Report on UFOs - Part 1 (PDF)
Part 1 of the complete French report on UFOs published in 1999, entitled "UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for?". This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense.

COMETA Report on UFOs - Part 2 (PDF)
Part 2 of the complete French report on UFOs published in 1999, entitled "UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for?". This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense.

The 1999 French Report on UFOs and Defense (PDF)
Mark Rodeghier, CUFOS
Article on the COMETA report, the 90-page report that is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs over a period of about three years, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of how the UFO phenomenon affects the national defense of France and that of other nations.

The French Report on UFOs and Defense: A Summary
Gildas Bourdais
On Friday July 16, 1999 an important document was published in France entitled, UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for? ("Les Ovni Et La Defense: A quoi doit-on se préparer?"). This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense.

Articles On The Cometa Report
Gildas Bourdais
Comments by Gildas Bourdais on several articles on the COMETA report. R

Commentary on COMETA (skeptical)
Claude Mauge
The following commentary was published by the respected Belgian UFO research magazine Inforespace (No.100, June 2000, p.78)

Commentary on the COMETA Report
Perry Petrakis - SOS OVNI
An assessment of the COMETA Report by the French group SOS OVNI. R

Media Coverage of the COMETA Report
Haiko Lietz
A listing of media coverage of the release of the COMETA report by the mass media (regional and national radio, TV, press) and other publications. R

UFO theorists gain support abroad, but repression at home
Leslie Kean, Boston Globe, 5/21/00
Study by French officials, routine unexplained sightings, US military safety aspects combine to boost believers. (Article published in the Boston Globe and other newspapers.) R

USA: UFOs and National Security
Leslie Kean, June 2000
An in-depth article by journalist Leslie Kean on the COMETA report. This version is the full unedited version submitted to the French magazine VSD. Other, shorter versions appeared in the Boston Globe and the Irish Independent. R

The French COMETA Report Affair
UFOs at Close Sight
An overview of the COMETA report, its authors/members, and a summary of the contents.