Sighting record / 1990

The Megaplatanos Crash: the Greek Roswell

September 2, 1990 · Megaplatanos (Megas Platanos), near Atalanti, Phthiotis, Central Greece, Greece

31Partially documented UAP Sphere 28 sources 10 videos

September 2, 1990. Sunday night in Central Greece. People across the country looked up and saw a line of yellowish-red lights flying in single file. Newspapers would call it a flying train. Near the village of Megaplatanos, shepherds watched one object falter. It turned bright red. It trailed black smoke. Then it came down on a hill. Smaller lights gathered over the burning scrub, rising and dropping for hours, and one local family spoke of shadowy figures moving inside the glow. Villagers picked up debris. The Hellenic Air Force came. Weeks later its laboratory gave an answer. The story it never quite closed is still told as the Greek Roswell.

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Key facts

When	September 2, 1990
Time of day	night, from about 21:30 on 2 September into the early hours of 3 September (English accounts place the crash shortly after 3 AM)
Where	Megaplatanos (Megas Platanos), near Atalanti, Phthiotis, Central Greece,Greece
Duration	several hours, until about 3 AM or dawn depending on the account
Witnesses	12
Witness roles	civilians
Found	,physical traces
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	Hellenic Air Force site recovery and KETA laboratory analysis at Tanagra Air Base (report dated 19 October 1990),Phthiotis Police Directorate,Preliminary investigation ordered by Prosecutor Zisimopoulos,National Observatory of Athens inquiry
Status	undisputed

The object

A dozen or more yellowish-red lights flew in single file. One round object, said to be the size of a tractor, turned bright red, trailed black smoke and fell onto a hill near Megaplatanos. Smaller glowing objects circled and hovered over the wreck, rising and descending until dawn, some say with shadowy figures moving inside the light.

Size	about 4 m (the size of a tractor)
Distance	about 500 m from the witnesses
Colour	red, yellow
Surface	glowing
Lights	row of lights, yellow and red
Motion	high speed, hovered, landed or touched down, vertical climb or drop, split or merged

Roswell Incident (related)
Kecksburg UFO Incident (related)
The Ghost Rockets (Spökraketer), Scandinavia, 1946 (related)
The French UFO wave of 5 November 1990 (Gorizont 21 re-entry) (related)

Context

Megaplatanos is a small village in Phthiotis, a few kilometres from Atalanti in Central Greece. Just outside it stands Profitis Ilias hill, 726 metres high. Greek accounts name that hill as the place where something came down.

Sources (28, most influential first)

UFO sightings in Greece · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki
The UFO Crash at Megas Platanos, Greece · UFO Insight · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
UFOs in Greece - Crash at Megas Platanos · VJ Enterprises · Research organisation · org report
https://paranormap.net/article/504 · Paranormap · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
https://docuventa.gr/atalanti-1990-pio-paraxeni-emfanisi-ufo-stin-ellada/ · Docuventa · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog

Reputability

31/100Partially documented

Keywords

People

Trantos KaratranjosShepherd who said he saw the craft crash about 500 metres from him (also spelled Karatrantos)
Argyris AlevantasVillager who picked up debris and said he sent a piece to a space research institute in Brussels
Christos AlavantisShepherd from Megaplatanos who saw luminous objects fall into a forested area and went to the site
Ilias GiannoulakosWitness who found debris and got blisters on his hand after touching a blackened pine trunk
Georg N. PantoulasInvestigator whose interviews underlie the English-language account
Makis K. PodotasAuthor of the 2000 book UFO: Φάκελος Ελλάδα
PanetsosPolice Director, Phthiotis Police Directorate
ZisimopoulosProsecutor who ordered a preliminary investigation

Names

Kecksburg