ICER at Hessdalen: International UAP Research Comes Together in Norway

The 2026 gathering was made possible to a considerable extent through the personal commitment of Fred Pallesen, who devoted substantial time, effort and personal resources to organizing and facilitating the event.

Fred worked to bring together an international group of researchers and participants and was instrumental in ensuring that the conference and subsequent field trip could take place.

His contribution went well beyond the formal organization of the programme. From welcoming participants and coordinating logistics to accompanying them during their time in Norway, Fred's involvement was a visible expression of the personal commitment that continues to sustain much of the international UAP research community.

For ICER, this is worth acknowledging. Scientific and research initiatives are often described through their formal programmes, institutions and publications, while the individual work required to make international cooperation possible remains largely invisible.

The Hessdalen meeting was a good reminder that research communities are also built through personal commitment, hospitality, trust and sustained cooperation.

The conference also provided an opportunity to revisit the extraordinary history of Project Hessdalen.

Erling P. Strand presented an overview of the project and its development since the beginning of the Hessdalen investigations in the early 1980s.

For more than four decades, Hessdalen has remained one of the best-known locations in Europe for the systematic investigation of anomalous luminous phenomena. The project has sought to move beyond anecdotal reports by establishing instruments and procedures for the continued observation and recording of events in the valley.

Rainer Haseitl presented the current instrumental work, including cameras, magnetometers and other sensors used to monitor the area.

The combination of historical experience and continuing technological development was one of the most interesting aspects of the meeting. Hessdalen is not simply a historical reference in UFO research; it remains an active environment in which attempts are being made to collect and analyse data.

The programme deliberately brought together researchers working from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Francisco Mourão Corrêa, presented Epistemology and Scientific Legitimacy, addressing the question of how different forms of evidence should be evaluated in UAP research and the importance of developing appropriate Standards of Evidence.

The experiential dimension was represented by Anna Scott, Kate Thorvaldsen and Anneli Sarre, who presented different perspectives on personal experiences of contact.

Håkon Fyhn approached the subject from an anthropological perspective, while Rodrigo Fuenzalida, from Chile, presented investigated cases from Chile and Patagonia, supported by photographic and video material.

The programme was further expanded by the last-minute participation of Artem Bilyk, a professor from Kyiv, Ukraine, who presented the work of the scientific research centre Zond and its approach to the investigation and identification of anomalous phenomena.

Together, these contributions illustrated the increasingly diverse character of contemporary UAP research and the importance of bringing different approaches into dialogue.

The conference was followed by a field trip to Hessdalen Valley, allowing participants to see directly the environment in which the research has been conducted for decades.

The group visited several locations associated with Project Hessdalen, including the Blue Box and White Box, and had the opportunity to discuss the history and current operation of the observation infrastructure.

For many participants, this was an important complement to the presentations.

The scientific investigation of an anomalous phenomenon cannot be fully separated from the physical environment in which observations take place. Visiting the valley offered an opportunity to connect the data, the instruments, the geography and the human history of Hessdalen within the same experience.

The 2026 Hessdalen Field Trip & Conference demonstrated once again the value of bringing together researchers with different backgrounds and approaches around a common scientific question.

For ICER, the event represented an opportunity to strengthen existing relationships, establish new international contacts and support the continuing dialogue surrounding the scientific investigation of UAP and other anomalous phenomena.

For everyone involved, however, Hessdalen offered something more fundamental: the opportunity to meet, discuss, investigate and share experiences in the field.

And perhaps that is one of the most enduring strengths of the Hessdalen project — its ability to bring people together around a phenomenon that remains unresolved, while keeping the investigation open.