1971 · Over Interlaken and Winterthur, Switzerland

Swiss Mirage III pilots and the 'snake' light over Interlaken

On the record

Strength B · 7/10 · 2 independent

Evidence 2/4 · Witnesses 3/3 · Backing 2/3

Three Mirage III aircrew reports on a 1954 official form, and two former pilots named on the record; the originals are lost.

Plausibility Moderate

Score 10 · 6 factors for, 0 against

Three Mirage aircrew reports on an official form and two former pilots on the record; the originals are lost.

See the factors ↓

Unexplained

From the accounts: Swiss Mirage III aircrew saw a bright point moving 'wie eine Schlange' over Interlaken in February 1971. · Illustration for uaptrail.com

When23–26 February 1971

WhereOver Interlaken and Winterthur, Switzerland

Backing2 independent

Evidencedocuments, press

In February 1971 three Swiss Air Force Mirage III crews reported the same kind of light. On 23 February two officers over Interlaken saw a bright point moving 'like a snake'; hours later a pilot over Winterthur reported it with a sketch, watching it for tens of minutes. Three days later a third pilot saw it hover, leave a cone-shaped trail and move off. The squadron rejected a satellite re-entry because of the duration. The reports were filed on UFO forms the Air Force had used since a 1954 directive. Two former pilots spoke on the record in 2024.

Evidence, in date order (2)

1954Swiss Air Force file E5465Bdocument
1954 UFO reporting guidelines and questionnaires; anonymised copies of the 1971 aircrew reports survive E5465B
Oct 2024RTS and SRF (Oct 2024)press
named two former pilots on the record

How plausible · Moderate

Three Mirage aircrew reports on an official form and two former pilots on the record; the originals are lost.

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Access From the cockpit.
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No gain sought Official.
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Character record Air Force pilots.
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Independent convergence Three reports.
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Cost of speaking Named pilots.
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Checkable details check out Originals lost.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.

Claims

Two officers in a Mirage III saw a bright point moving 'wie eine Schlange'; hours later another pilot over Winterthur reported it with a sketch, for tens of minutes; three days later a third pilot saw it hover, leave a cone-shaped trail at about 90°, then move off.firsthandOn the recordSwiss Air Force aircrew reports (anonymised copies)

'Un vrai mystère.'firsthandSourced, unconfirmedMichel Perdrisat, Escadrille 17 pilot 1970–81, to RTS (2024)

He wrote one of the reports.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedErnst Gmünder, former commander, to SRF (2024)

'Es ist nicht unsere Aufgabe, nach der Zusammensetzung, der Herkunft oder dem Ziel dieser Erscheinungen zu forschen.' Trilingual UFO questionnaires, which former pilots say were used until the 1990s.firsthandOn the recordSwiss Air Force intelligence guidelines, file E5465B (1954)

The army never had a mandate to collect UFO information.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedDDPS spokesperson Delphine Schwab-Allemand (2024)

Where

Over Interlaken and Winterthur, Switzerland

46.7°N 7.9°E

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