Within Barcelona UFOs
Did El Prat Radar Really Track a UFO?
The Barcelona, L'Hospitalet and Sabadell case became famous through radar rumours, but the file weakened that claim.
On this page
- What the 1978 reports claimed
- What the declassified file said about radar
- Why balloons became the more likely explanation
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Introduction
The El Prat radar claim is one of the more useful Barcelona UFO cases precisely because it sounds strong at first and then weakens under its own file. The story began with a reported 4 July 1978 sighting over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and Sabadell. Its most dramatic feature was the claim that the object had also been detected by radar at Barcelona’s El Prat airport. But the declassified Spanish Air Force file says the airport control centre had no record of any unidentified object on radar that day, and the later military correspondence pointed instead towards slow balloons launched from Sicily by United States personnel. Biblioteca Virtual Defensa+2Project Blue Book Archive[bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es]bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.esOpen source on gob.es.
That makes the case important for Barcelona’s UFO history, but not as evidence of a confirmed unknown aircraft. It is a clear example of how a radar rumour can give a metropolitan sighting extra weight, while the official paper trail can remove the very detail that made the story compelling.
What the 1978 reports claimed
The case sits in the Spanish Defence Ministry’s official UFO collection under file number 780704. The catalogue title identifies it as an observation of strange phenomena in Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell on 4 July 1978, produced by the Air Operational Command and the Air Staff Intelligence Section. The public record lists it as a nine-page text file, published in 1978 and declassified by order JEMA 2868 on 13 July 1994.[Biblioteca Virtual Defensa]bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.esOpen source on gob.es.
The triggering document was not, as far as the available file shows, a detailed witness interview from a pilot, controller or police officer. It was a letter from the secretary of the Barcelona Parapsychology and Ufology Association, sent from Castelldefels on 3 August 1978 to the First Air Region. The association said it had heard news that an unidentified flying object had flown over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell on 4 July, and that it had also been detected by the radar at El Prat airport. The group asked the military authorities to provide further details.[Project Blue Book Archive]bluebookfiles.orgProject Blue Book Archive Spanish UFOFilesProject Blue Book Archive Spanish UFOFiles
That origin matters. The case entered the official system as a request for information about a reported event, not as a fully documented official detection. The file preserved the claim because the Air Force treated the enquiry seriously enough to circulate it through the chain of command. It did not, however, automatically validate the claim that an unknown object had been tracked.
Local retellings sometimes present the case more vividly. Sabadell press coverage after the Defence files were made public described an object seen from Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell, and repeated that the El Prat radar detected it. But the same article also reported the later denial from the Air Sector of Catalonia and the possible balloon explanation, showing the tension between the headline version and the content of the file.[naciodigital.cat]naciodigital.catels expedients ovni revelen que una nau va sobrevolar sabadell lany 1978els expedients ovni revelen que una nau va sobrevolar sabadell lany 1978
Why the El Prat radar detail mattered
Radar claims carry special weight in UFO stories because they appear to move a case beyond ordinary human perception. A visual report can be affected by distance, lighting, weather, expectation, or the observer’s lack of aviation knowledge. A radar report sounds more technical: an instrument has supposedly registered a target, and that target can seem harder to dismiss as a star, aircraft light or trick of perspective.
In this case, the geography made the claim even more attractive. El Prat was not a remote military outpost but Barcelona’s major airport, sitting beside a dense metropolitan area and close to busy flight routes. A reported object over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell would naturally invite the question: did air traffic control see anything too? If the answer had been yes, the case would have been much stronger.
The file’s value is that it separates three different things that are often blurred together in later UFO narratives:
- A reported sighting: the association said it had received news of an object over three metropolitan locations.
- A claimed radar detection: the association’s letter said the object had also been detected at El Prat.
- An official radar check: the military enquiry asked about the claim and received a negative answer from the airport control centre.
That distinction is the core of the case. The file does not say that El Prat tracked a UFO and then covered it up. It says a radar claim was made, checked, and not supported by the airport’s own response. Later summaries that keep the first half of the story and drop the second turn a weakened claim into a stronger legend.
What the declassified file said about radar
The decisive passage came after the correspondence reached the Air Sector of Catalonia. In its reply, dated 1 September 1978, the sector reported that its headquarters had no knowledge of an unidentified object over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet or Sabadell on 4 July. It then addressed the specific radar allegation: after information was requested from the airport control centre, the head of that centre said there was no record of any unidentified object detected on the relevant day.[files.bluebookfiles.org]files.bluebookfiles.orgAVISTAMIENT O DE FENOMENOS EXTRANOSAVISTAMIENT O DE FENOMENOS EXTRANOS
This is the point at which the case changes character. The most impressive-sounding detail in the original claim was not confirmed; it was contradicted. The report did not merely say “no conclusion”. It said that the control centre had no record of the alleged radar detection.
That does not prove that nobody in the metropolitan area saw anything. It means the stronger version of the case — a multi-city sighting supported by airport radar — is not what the official file supports. The evidence left in the file is a report relayed by a UFO group, followed by an administrative investigation and a negative radar response.
The official archive also helps place the case in context. Spain’s Defence Ministry says its UFO collection covers 80 files and about 1,900 pages of strange aerial observations in Spanish airspace from 1962 to 1995, with names of witnesses and reporting officers omitted in the public versions. Each file can differ in content: some include witness interviews, weather reports or operational notes, while others are much thinner.[Biblioteca Virtual Defensa]bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.esOpen source on gob.es.
File 780704 belongs at the thinner end. The public catalogue lists nine pages, and later local reporting notes that it does not contain photographs or independent witness statements beyond the initial request and the official routing of that request.[Biblioteca Virtual Defensa]bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.esOpen source on gob.es.
Why balloons became the more likely explanation
The same official reply that rejected the radar detection also introduced a mundane explanation. During July 1978, the Barcelona airport control centre had received telephone communications from the Palma de Mallorca control centre about launches from Sicily by United States personnel of several balloons. The reply added that these balloons, because of their low speed, were not detected on radar screens.[files.bluebookfiles.org]files.bluebookfiles.orgAVISTAMIENT O DE FENOMENOS EXTRANOSAVISTAMIENT O DE FENOMENOS EXTRANOS
This explanation is not a perfect reconstruction of the event. The file does not show a precise balloon track, launch time, altitude profile, weather drift calculation, or direct match to a named witness’s description. It is better understood as a plausible official explanation than a fully demonstrated identification.
Still, it fits the weaknesses of the case better than the dramatic radar version does. Balloons can be highly visible, slow-moving and strange-looking to observers who do not know what they are seeing, especially if sunlight, haze or distance makes their shape difficult to judge. Modern weather services still use balloon-borne instruments for upper-air observations, and such balloons have long been part of atmospheric research and forecasting.[National Weather Service]weather.govOpen source on weather.gov.
The radar point also makes sense in this narrower way. The file’s logic is not “the radar saw a UFO”; it is almost the opposite: slow balloons had been reported in the wider air-traffic information environment, and the airport did not record an unidentified radar target. That combination weakened the original claim twice — first by denying the alleged radar support, and second by offering a conventional class of object that could account for at least some visual reports.
How later reporting changed the case
The 2016 release and republication of Spain’s UFO files gave the 1978 metropolitan case a second life in local media. Some coverage emphasised the intriguing angle: Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell had appeared together in an official UFO file, and Sabadell could claim a place in the declassified archive.[naciodigital.cat]naciodigital.catels expedients ovni revelen que una nau va sobrevolar sabadell lany 1978els expedients ovni revelen que una nau va sobrevolar sabadell lany 1978
Other reporting leaned into the sceptical lesson. A 2016 article on the Defence files described the Barcelona case as one more example of a report that looked strange until the documentation was followed: a letter said an object over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell had been detected at El Prat, the Army investigated, and the airport response said no such detection was recorded while mentioning balloon launches from Sicily.[Diario de León]diariodeleon.esDiario de León"Ni idea, es una cosa, un ovni que cambia de blanco a rojoDiario de León"Ni idea, es una cosa, un ovni que cambia de blanco a rojo
Recent local coverage has been even more explicit. In May 2026, APD described file 780704 as a case where the declassified military record disproved one of the most repeated Barcelona-area UFO references: the supposed El Prat radar confirmation. Its account stressed that the file contains the observation claim, but the signed response from the Catalonia Air Sector denied any radar record of an unidentified object and pointed to US balloons launched from Sicily.[APD Noticies]apdnoticies.comOpen source on apdnoticies.com.
This matters because the case illustrates a common archival trap. The presence of a claim in a declassified file is not the same as official confirmation of the claim. In file 780704, the archive preserves the rumour, the enquiry and the rebuttal. A reader who stops at the file title or the first summary may come away thinking Barcelona had a radar-confirmed UFO case. A reader who follows the document chain sees a weaker, more ordinary story.
What the case adds to Barcelona’s UFO history
The 1978 El Prat case is not Barcelona’s strongest UFO mystery. It lacks a robust witness record in the public file, lacks photographs, lacks a confirmed radar return, and ends with a plausible balloon explanation. Its value lies elsewhere: it shows how Barcelona’s UFO history was shaped by airports, local investigators, metropolitan visibility and later retellings.
The case also complements better-known Barcelona-province files. The 1971 Montserrat-linked sighting wave involved multiple witnesses across a wider geography and was later connected to a French rocket re-entry. The 1978 metropolitan case is smaller and weaker, but it teaches a similar lesson: the official files often become more interesting when they reduce mystery rather than increase it. They show how a dramatic public claim was tested against aviation channels, and how that process could strip away the strongest part of the story.
For a balanced Barcelona UFO chronology, file 780704 should therefore be described as a disputed radar claim, not as a radar-confirmed UFO. The fair reading is:
- something was reported over Barcelona, L’Hospitalet and Sabadell on 4 July 1978;
- the claim reached the Air Force through a ufology association’s request for information;
- the El Prat radar claim was checked and not supported by the airport control centre;[faa.gov]faa.govSource details in endnotes.
- the file pointed to slow balloons launched from Sicily by United States personnel as a likely explanation;
- later reporting has tended to weaken, rather than strengthen, the original claim.
That is why the case remains worth including in Barcelona’s UFO history. It is not persuasive evidence of an extraordinary craft over the metropolitan area. It is a compact example of how a strong-sounding radar story can dissolve into a paper trail of hearsay, administrative checking and a conventional explanation.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: bluebookfiles.org
Title: Project Blue Book Archive Spanish UFOFiles
Link:https://bluebookfiles.org/doc/11306
2.
Source: files.bluebookfiles.org
Title: AVISTAMIENT O DE FENOMENOS EXTRANOS
Link:https://files.bluebookfiles.org/pdfs/1978.00%20-%20NARA%20-%20SpanishUFOFiles%20-%201978-07-04_avistamiento_en_barcelona-hospitalet-sabadell.pdf
3.
Source: naciodigital.cat
Title: els expedients ovni revelen que una nau va sobrevolar sabadell lany 1978
Link:https://naciodigital.cat/sabadell/societat-sabadell/els-expedients-ovni-revelen-que-una-nau-va-sobrevolar-sabadell-lany-1978.html
4.
Source: weather.gov
Link:https://www.weather.gov/gjt/education_corner_balloon
5.
Source: weather.gov
Link:https://www.weather.gov/upperair/reqdahdr
6.
Source: weather.gov
Link:https://www.weather.gov/mlb/Doppler_Dual_Pol_Weather_Radar
7.
Source: weather.gov
Link:https://www.weather.gov/okx/Tour_Weather_Balloon
8.
Source: weather.gov
Link:https://www.weather.gov/chs/upperair
9.
Source: archive.org
Title: Enciclopedia Ilustrada de la Aviacion Tomo 03 Delta 1982 fltpg537 djvu.txt
Link:https://archive.org/stream/EnciclopediaIlustradaDeLaAviacionTomo03Delta1982Fltpg537/Enciclopedia%20Ilustrada%20de%20la%20Aviacion%20Tomo%2003%20Delta%201982%20fltpg537_djvu.txt
10.
Source: bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es
Link:https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/exp_ovni/es/consulta/busqueda_referencia.do?campo=idtitulo&idValor=395892
11.
Source: diariodeleon.es
Title: Diario de León”Ni idea, es una cosa, un ovni que cambia de blanco a rojo”
Link:https://www.diariodeleon.es/sociedad/161031/1356269/idea-cosa-ovni-cambia-blanco-rojo.html
12.
Source: apdnoticies.com
Link:https://www.apdnoticies.com/es/barcelona/hospitalet-llobregat/el-archivo-militar-desclasificado-desmiente-que-el-radar-de-barcelona-detectara-el-supuesto-ovni_11833_102.html
13.
Source: bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es
Link:https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/exp_ovni/es/micrositios/inicio.do
14.
Source: es.scribd.com
Title: 1978 07 04 Avistamiento en Barcelona Hospitalet Sabadell
Link:https://es.scribd.com/document/328831957/1978-07-04-Avistamiento-en-Barcelona-Hospitalet-Sabadell
15.
Source: es.scribd.com
Title: 1978 07 04 Avistamiento en Barcelona Hospitalet Sabadell
Link:https://es.scribd.com/document/827349788/1978-07-04-Avistamiento-en-Barcelona-Hospitalet-Sabadell
16.
Source: scribd.com
Title: 1978 07 04 Avistamiento en Barcelona Hospitalet Sabadell
Link:https://www.scribd.com/document/827349788/1978-07-04-Avistamiento-en-Barcelona-Hospitalet-Sabadell
17.
Source: es.scribd.com
Title: 1978 07 04 Avistamiento en Barcelona Hospitalet Sabadell
Link:https://es.scribd.com/document/391805387/1978-07-04-Avistamiento-en-Barcelona-Hospitalet-Sabadell
18.
Source: bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es
Title: defensa.gob.es Listado de títulos
Link:https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/exp_ovni/es/consulta/indice_campo.do?campo=idtitulo
19.
Source: bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es
Title: defensa.gob.es Title list
Link:https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/exp_ovni/en/consulta/indice_campo.do?campo=idtitulo
20.
Source: bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es
Link:https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/es/consulta/registro.do?control=BMDB20160070385
21.
Source: armada.defensa.gob.es
Link:https://armada.defensa.gob.es/archivo/rgm/2025/08-09/AGOSTOSEP.pdf
22.
Source: nssl.noaa.gov
Link:https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/thunderstorms/detection/
Additional References
23.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Mysterious object trends on Twitter | Weather balloon or UFO?
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOHcLc3lUP8
Source snippet
Spain UFO files declassified military Pentagon releases declassified UFO files detailing more than 400 incidents NBC News...
24.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The UFO that Shocked an Entire Continent
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V10Q9AWsOfY
Source snippet
Mysterious object trends on Twitter | Weather balloon or UFO?...
25.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk8cf2yDz0I
Source snippet
The UFO that Shocked an Entire Continent - Manises UAP incident in Europe...
26.
Source: youtube.com
Title: UFO Truths Exposed | UFOs: Investigating the Unknown MEGA Episode
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDxYZyMEmUU
Source snippet
Spanish Hunters' Chilling ALIEN ENCOUNTER CASE From 1978...
27.
Source: faa.gov
Link:https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/15_phak_ch13.pdf
28.
Source: nsf.gov
Link:https://www.nsf.gov/impacts/doppler
29.
Source: youtube.com
Title: 1,900 pages of ‘UFO files’ are declassified in Spain
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XuV39079LA
Source snippet
UFO Truths Exposed | UFOs: Investigating the Unknown MEGA Episode...
30.
Source: microsiervos.com
Link:https://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/aerotrastorno/
31.
Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/meteorology/comments/szv788/can_weather_radars_detect_aircrafts/
32.
Source: pdfcoffee.com
Link:https://pdfcoffee.com/diccionario-de-uso-de-las-mayusculas-y-minusculas–4-pdf-free.html
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