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In the dark and cold place of oblivion

The investigation into the 1980 Ustica tragedy has been closed.

The Italian judicial authorities have decided to close all proceedings relating to the disaster that occurred on June 27, 1980, in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

After more than forty years of judicial investigations, international letters rogatory, and often partial or conflicting testimonies, the Ustica massacre risks remaining unsolved. In April 2025, the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office officially closed all investigations into the disaster involving the ITAVIA DC-9 aircraft. The disaster caused the death of 81 people. The French, Israeli, and US authorities refused to cooperate with the Italian authorities (and we will understand why). The hypothesis of an explosive device on board has been definitively ruled out, while that of an air battle remains valid, but this has not led to the identification of any responsible parties.

During the entire investigation, no data was ever obtained on the operation of the radars of the American aircraft carrier SARATOGA and the DLRO E-3 aircraft. The Italian media’s version of the responsibility for the accident involving the US fighter jet of the 37th squadron based on the USS SARATOGA (fragments of a suspended fuel tank with the livery of the fighter jets were found in the wreckage) has remained just a version. The truth and evidence have been concealed to appease Euro-Atlantic solidarity. Those responsible have not been punished. Compensation to the victims’ relatives was negligible and was only paid in 2023, following a ruling by the Rome Court of Appeal.

In 2007, the Court of Cassation ruled that the DC-9 had been shot down by a missile, probably in a war scenario. In 2013, talk of compensation began. No one has been formally convicted for the downing of the plane. There have been 20 rulings, but none has named a single “guilty party.” Itavia even had time to defraud the Italian tax authorities and the families of the victims, before being convicted by the judiciary and having its assets seized by the authorities. Officials were able to destroy documents on Ustica to prevent the truth from leaking out.

Now the case has been closed, which is the classic method of consigning to oblivion a historical fact whose truth must NOT be known.

But let’s take things in order, because the investigations and cover-ups, alongside the judicial developments, continue to be incredible. At this moment in history, it is certainly essential for Israel to protect itself and for the European Union (and therefore politically for France) to remain united and prevent international scandals from worsening relations between these countries.

Ah, an interesting point: Judge Paolo Borsellino, who was killed in a Mafia attack, wanted to reopen the Ustica case. Is it a coincidence that he was killed shortly afterwards?

Only a few people know what really happened

In 1980, tensions with Israel were palpable, and Gaddafi was beginning to assert himself on the international scene. The Libyan leader wanted a more prominent role, but it was not granted to him. Disappointed and dissatisfied, he began to take steps to regain the credibility he had built as a dictator by keeping the Libyan tribes united—a task that was far from easy without a strong man in charge. This, perhaps, is something that everyone should understand.

Gaddafi gained international visibility, mainly thanks to his relations with Italy. One day in 1980, he was on his way to Belgrade for a meeting. Giulio Andreotti, notoriously well informed about everything and everyone, learned of a possible assassination attempt against the Libyan president during the trip. When the plane was over Malta, Andreotti—through the embassy—warned Gaddafi of the danger. By then, however, he had already changed course and avoided the attack.

Everyone knew that Gaddafi was no longer on that plane.

That day, an Itavia DC-9 took off from Bologna bound for Palermo, with a delay of one hour and 35 minutes—a detail that has never been clearly explained. Two military aircraft took off from a base near Varese and tailed the DC-9. From then on, the story becomes complicated.

If we had read the signs correctly from the beginning, perhaps we could have avoided another 15 victims in the years that followed. Those planes could not have reached Libya: they did not have enough fuel. At most, they could have reached Palermo. But to do what? Gaddafi was not on that flight. It was an intelligence operation, one of the most sophisticated ever carried out.

In the Mediterranean, an area heavily monitored by radar and military bases—from Naples, for example—there were Italian, American, and French planes, and even a British submarine. Think of similar cases, such as the cable car in Friuli, which was cut by American planes: there, the blame was admitted and everything ended quickly. Instead, in the case of Ustica, it was preferred to talk about ‘structural failure’ and other implausible explanations.

What really happened? We know that four fighter jets took off from the Solenzara base in Corsica. Only three returned. There was an air battle in the area. It was not a bomb, but a shoot-down. According to some sources, the jets were Israeli. And it all makes sense, considering that Gaddafi was not on board the DC-9, but there was probably something much more valuable in the hold.

Nuclear material? Uranium? Plutonium? Perhaps. According to some, that cargo was destined for Gaddafi or Iran. Or both.

And there is another disturbing fact: among the bodies recovered, some passengers were dressed in life jackets, without shoes, with blackened feet. This detail is important: contact between certain radioactive materials and water can cause blackening of the skin. It is a clue. And it suggests that there was something extremely dangerous and secret in the hold of the plane.

If the plane was hit, as they say, the passengers would not have had enough time to put on life jackets and take off their shoes. So what really happened? There are even reports of the plane crashing into the sea, but officially it was shot down.

Now, bear in mind that Gaddafi was a man who knew the mechanisms of power well. To maintain his position, he knew how important it was to cultivate strategic contacts. Several people claimed that he had discovered a vast underground lake in the Libyan desert: an immense, potentially revolutionary resource. He had also accumulated huge gold reserves, as is well known. If he had been able to start getting rid of the French franc and use his own currency, or at least the capital at his disposal, he could have financed the extraction of water and transformed the desert into a kind of nationwide kibbutz. He would have become an autarkic state, independent of Western powers. But there was one obstacle too great: Israel. Even back then, in the 1980s, it was feared. It was known to possess nuclear weapons. And Gaddafi, alone, was too weak to oppose such a force.

We must not forget another crucial fact: in 1972, during the Munich Olympics, an attack struck the Israeli delegation. An athlete was killed, and the reaction was ruthless. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir drew up the infamous “X list” and tasked Mossad agents, who were given new identities, with tracking down and killing those responsible for the attack. Ten out of eleven were eliminated. Only one survived an assassination attempt and was not pursued further.

This shows that when Israel perceives a threat to its national security, it reacts directly, precisely, and secretly. A perception is enough: the target is identified and hit.

And here we return to Italy. After the Itavia DC-9 disaster, the French were tasked with recovering the wreckage. They recovered tiny objects: wallets, identity documents, even personal effects. But something much larger, such as the tail fin—a huge and crucial piece—was never found. How is this possible?

Entrusting the recovery of the wreckage to those who may have been involved in the events that night seemed, frankly, absurd. It was like asking the innkeeper if the wine was good. Was it possible that Italy did not have the means to deal with it? Or, at least, that another country could not be involved, accompanied by Italian military personnel?

On June 25, 2024, on Giletti’s evening television program, a former French soldier claimed that he was ordered to tell the Italians that the radar was under maintenance. The radar tracks were denied, and everything was covered up once again. France, servant of the London-Tel Aviv axis, was not to get its hands dirty.

And so, while tiny objects are found, the rudder disappears. The very thing that could have contained the most relevant evidence. A “ministerial jungle,” as Salgari would say. But this is no adventure novel.

In the meantime, they told us everything. In bits and pieces. Conflicting versions, misdirection, half-truths. But then, when the verdicts come, they say something completely different.

In the end, 96 people lost their lives. Not just those who knew too much. They all suffered the same tragic fate. The real scandal is that, even today, this secret remains hidden, far from the knowledge of the Italian people. Who still refuse to reveal the role played by the US, Israel, and France, and the extent to which Italy was involved in all this.

So how can we really say that we are doing well when such serious truths are still being silenced?