Denis Norlain

Bernard Norlain was a French military officer and former director of the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale (IHEDN, Institute for Advanced National Defense Studies). In March 1995, General Letty approached Norlain to discuss establishing a committee to study UFOs, referencing that the IHEDN's Auditors Association had produced a preliminary report on the subject approximately 20 years earlier. Norlain supported the initiative and referred Letty to the IHEDN Auditors Association, which provided backing for the project. This effort culminated in the formation of COMETA (Comité d'Études Approfondies), a private fact-finding committee on UFOs. Norlain wrote the preface to the COMETA Report, issued in July 1999, which compiled case studies of French and foreign UAP incidents over approximately 60 years with focus on national defense implications. The report represented one of the most comprehensive official examinations of the UFO phenomenon by a distinguished group of French defense experts and scientists.