ORTHEZ (64) 02.12.2008

On 2 December 2008 at 22:15, 2 people in a car near Orthez were surprised by a large black mass at very low altitude. Green, red-orange and whitish lights formed a triangle on it. It seemed stationary before trees suddenly obscured it. The driver continued for a few hundred metres and turned back, but the object was gone when they returned. Although the opening account mentions 2 witnesses, the gendarmerie report contains consistent statements from 3 witnesses. After consulting various authorities, the gendarmes established that the witnesses had seen a C160 Transall on a scheduled low-altitude night mission. The source refers to attachments 5, 6, 7 and 9 to the report, including radar reconstructions. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of an aircraft.