Katangese

Several accounts have said that Mr. Hammarskjold’s airplane was harassed or attacked by a Fouga Magister jet trainer deployed by the Katangese secessionists.

The film’s researchers also claim to have corroborated a theory that a now-deceased Belgian mercenary pilot, Jan van Risseghem, flying a French-built Fouga Magister belonging to the forces of Moïse Tshombe, the Katangese rebel leader, attacked and destroyed Mr. Hammarskjold’s plane.

That account, however, has been called into question by a German historian, Torben Gülstorff, who has traced documents showing that several Dornier twin-engine planes were sold to the Katangese rebel authorities.

But that assertion, too, seems undermined by documents published in a Belgian newspaper, De Morgen, last month, showing that Mr. van Risseghem apparently drew an advance on his salary as a mercenary for the Katangese authorities on Sept. 16, 1961.

Asked if a pilot could have been operating in the area for Katangese forces without Bracco hearing of him, he replied: “Impossible.”