Megaplatanos | The Greek Roswell

Megaplatanos is a little village located outside of Athens. It is mostly inhabited by farmers and shepherds who work in the fields and mountains from early morning until nightfall, as do other Greek communities. On September 2nd, 1990, at about 9 p.m., a few people who happened to be standing outdoors staring up at the sky, have noticed a few odd lights in the sky. It was a group of five or six mysterious flying objects approaching from the north, one of which was flying unpredictably. Witnesses reported observing odd lights emitted by the troubled plane, causing it to lose altitude and crash into a close mountain. The Megaplatanos crash is recognized as Greece’s Roswell event.

Mysterious lights over Greece

The mysterious lights were originally seen hovering over central Greece. According to reports, over a dozen of these objects were hovering across the sky about that time. They were observed flying north, past the city of Thessaloniki, close to Mount Pentelicus. The ships eventually shifted direction and proceeded south into the Peloponnese area. They changed direction and proceeded back towards central Greece from there. One of the UFOs appeared to shift colors and started flying erratically at that moment. As those objects settled in Atalanti, the troubled UFO fell quickly and crashed on the southern section of Tympristos, a tiny hill located a few kilometers outside Megaplatanos. On the crest of this hill is a modest church known as the Church of Prophet Elias. The object was believed to have crashed just yards away from the church. This event happened on Sunday night around 9:30 p.m.

People who witnessed these objects have reported that the other UFOs have headed towards the crashed one and very quickly backed up towards the sky. Some thought that was some sort of well-organized recovery mission for the crashed UFO.

One family bears testimony

The Karadratu family observed bright lights lighting up the dark sky for almost 15 minutes. They overheard 3 loud explosions before noticing that one of the flying objects had gotten brighter and closer to them. They saw it fall approximately a kilometer away from their house, the object had seemed to be damaged or on fire. The family has reported that they saw a black smoke after the crash happened. They also added that other UFOs have fallen near the grounded craft and had started circulating it. The objects’ lights were so strong that they were able to light up a section of the mountain.

The family explained that they were just standing there, looking. Then, they moved in closer to get a better look. The husband noticed some sort of movement in front of the burning item, like shadows passing back and forth, but they couldn’t tell if they were humanoid or not. They also said that in the dazzling circle that formed around the large item, the shadows were doing something. They had been there from approximately 10 a.m. on Sunday until about 3 a.m. on Monday.

Mrs. Karadratu has claimed that they only felt safe approaching the crash site after the sun had risen. When they began investigating, they discovered charred dirt and a few burned pine trees. One of the trees also had its bottom trunk burnt. Mr. Karadratu’s skin burned up within seconds of touching the tree. They both noticed two little holes in the ground where the impact looked to have occurred. The Karadratus came upon a strange small spherical object with what seemed to have two antennas close or in the holes. The object also had a lightning bolt symbol on it.

The Karadratus spotted creatures from a distance but couldn’t tell whether they were humans or not because they had been around a kilometer away and the dazzling lights and fire made it nearly impossible to detect certain anatomical traits. They were aware, however, that these entities or shadows began moving quickly around the wrecked vessel.

Police and scientists’ look into it

The Fthiotida Police Department had arrived quickly. Strange lights and a possible accident near Prophet Elias’ church have been noticed across the hamlet. They could only see traces of a bush fire during their initial assessment of the location. When the cops met the Karadratus, that had been on the site since earlier that day, they were handed the circular item they had discovered.

Mr. Panetsos, the director of the police department, discovered no evidence of a downed aircraft except the burnt soil and the object supplied to them by the Karadratus. He recruited the assistance of Mr. Zisimopoulos, the deputy prosecutor, who demanded a thorough study of the alleged accident scene. Various additional metals were found there, none of which were larger than 12 cm. The materials were sent to the Tanagra Air Force Base, which is around 90 kilometers south of the accident site.

Tanagra AFB determined that the artifacts weren’t something unseen before and were most likely bits from an outdated fighter plane. The Air Force Research and Technology Center (KETA-ETHM) examined the location, however, and came to a different conclusion. On October 19th, 1990, the incident report said:

They have confirmed that the UFO had scorched the grass and plants within a 200-meter radius. The following items had been found in the debris: Fragments of an 11cm diameter copper female plug with Arabic numbers in the center. A set of copper multipin cables is attached to the previously described plug. These cables’ insulation was constructed of silk, such as fabric and Teflon. A circular burned rubber cover. A ring made of steel. Each steel bar was 10cm long. Two regulators with the Greek letter F at their bases were located at the bottom. Given the alphabetical and numerical clues, the debris discovered was of terrestrial origin. It was archaic technology, perhaps remnants of an earlier satellite. The measurements, construction, and wiring, all contributed to this realization. The origin of the satellite was probably from the Soviet Union or Europe, as the metric system in centimeters and meters is only used in these portions of the world. The letter F is most likely from the Soviet Union because they used and still are using this Greek letter in its Cyrillic alphabet and possess the technology for such a gadget.

An investigation gone wrong

Many Greek Ufologists dismissed the theories of a fallen satellite or metal fragments from an outdated jet fighter plane. One of them was Socrates Ekaterinidis. He wrote for various newspapers and spoke out about the tragedy on Greek radio. He said that KETA-allegation ETHM’s of a fallen satellite lacked substantiation because no wreckage or even a modest impact crater had been discovered. He further claimed that the Air Force Base had overlooked the fact that one of the items had an unusual lightning bolt symbol. Why they had missed this discovery fueled his assumptions of a military cover-up or poor inquiry work. Mr. Ekaterinidis maintains that the police did not detect any inscription on the metal objects, including the Greek letter F.

To add to the confusion, the director of the Astronomical Institute of the National Observatory of Athens issued a statement suggesting that this was a meteor crash. Mr. Makris never visited the spot or looked into any eyewitnesses or police records. Nonetheless, he issued the following statement:

He had stated that the whole thing does not have an extraterrestrial origin. During that period (September 1990), the Earth’s orbit comes close to a flock of meteors known as Persians. Because of their fast speed, these meteorites produce significant friction and burn when they approach the Earth’s atmosphere at a height of around one hundred kilometers. As a result, the entire planet witnessed flashes. When it comes to meteors, they might be man-made satellites. As more satellite fragments are destroyed, they burn in the atmosphere. The phenomenon might potentially be caused by aberrant refractions or reflections of earthly lights in the atmosphere. Even the lights from a fleet of automobiles may produce such a beautiful scene. He also added that any other theories are nothing else but nonsense and a result of imagination or mass hysteria.

When many UFO investigators questioned the Atalanti police, they said that no investigative body ever took the testimonies of dozens of people who observed the unusual UFO lights and the crash near the village of Megaplatanos. According to what is known, just a few photographs obtained by the authorities and the Karadratu family have been shown to the general public.

Greece’s Roswell

In contrast to the 1947 occurrence in Roswell, New Mexico, the alleged UFO crash in Greece received practically zero public notice. This complicates the research since none of the initial UFO investigators shared their results with the rest of the globe. Greece has failed to completely embrace the modern era, despite its ancient magnificence and rich cultural and historical achievements.

These parts of Greece have shown a refusal to keep up with current times which can be both positive and detrimental. So, it’s understandable that knowledge concerning the alleged UFO encounters and crashes in 1990 may have been deeply buried and forgotten over years. The majority of folks have no idea that the Megaplatanos crash happened. This is because the sole knowledge regarding the occurrence comes from some of the locals who still live in Megaplatanos, that remember that event when the Greek sky was lighted by weird lights.