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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Belgian pilot Remy (Rémi) Van Lierde reportedly estimated that a snake he saw over the Belgian Congo in 1959 was nearly 50 feet long. He said he feared it might strike if the helicopter came within range—but the available accounts do not establish that it hit or actually attacked the aircraft. A photograph is associated with the story, yet it is too fuzzy and lacks a reliable scale, so it cannot confirm the animal’s length or even settle its identity.
What Van Lierde reportedly saw
Later accounts place the sighting over the Belgian Congo in 1959, often specifying Katanga. Van Lierde reportedly described a greenish-brown snake with its head raised and estimated its length at nearly 50 feet (about 15 metres). That figure is an eyewitness estimate relayed in later accounts, not a measurement of a recovered animal. Indian Defence Review’s 2025 recap attributes the following remark to him: “If I had been in its range, it would have struck at me.” The words convey his reported concern; they do not document a strike or collision.
Did the snake attack the helicopter?
The evidence supports a reported sighting and a fear that the animal might strike if the helicopter flew close enough. It does not establish that the snake attacked the helicopter. The distinction matters: a predicted or feared strike is not the same as an observed attempt, and the accounts summarized here do not describe a collision.
What does the photograph show?
A photograph circulates alongside the story, but its existence does not verify the animal’s size. The 2025 recap describes the image as fuzzy and without a reliable scale reference. Without a known object in the same plane, trustworthy camera geometry, and a documented image history, the photograph cannot independently establish a 50-foot length or a species.
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A War Thunder historical profile says photographs were online and “apparently” verified by experts, but it names neither the experts nor their methods. That undocumented statement is not enough to treat the image as authenticated evidence of scale.
Why estimates from the image remain uncertain
Luke Phillips’s 2026 essay explains that calculations based on the photograph depend on assumptions about the helicopter’s altitude and the camera angle. It reports an earlier estimate of 12–14 metres (roughly 39–46 feet), conditional on those assumptions—not a measured specimen. Different assumptions can change the result, so that range should be read as an analytical estimate, not a settled answer. Phillips’s analysis is a recent independent essay, not a peer-reviewed adjudication or a primary flight record.
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Why the helicopter context is plausible—but not proof
Van Lierde was a real Belgian pilot who served with the RAF during World War II and later held senior Belgian Air Force posts. The French-language aviation biography from Vieilles Tiges de Belgique says he was designated commander of Kamina base in 1959 and earned his Bristol Sycamore helicopter qualification on June 30, 1959. This makes a helicopter sighting plausible in his biography; it does not verify the snake, the photograph’s scale, or the reported length.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is—and is not—established
- Established in the accounts: Van Lierde was a Belgian pilot, and later sources attribute to him a 1959 sighting and an estimate of nearly 50 feet.
- Not established by the photograph: a reliable length, species identification, or forensic confirmation of the image’s scale.
- Not established by the evidence described: a captured animal, physical remains, independent zoological confirmation, or a documented helicopter strike.
The most careful conclusion is that the Congo snake is a reported encounter attached to a real pilot, not a verified 50-foot specimen or a proven helicopter attack. The photograph keeps the story visually compelling, but it does not resolve its central question.
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