CLAIRA (66) 09.11.2009

In a questionnaire, a witness at Claira reported that on 9 November 2009 at 18:55, while leaving home, they saw a white luminous sphere surrounded by a luminous ring pass very rapidly overhead at an estimated altitude of 500 m, toward the Corbières, then disappear. The witness noted strong wind and an aircraft to the north, toward Rivesaltes Airport, and had time to take a mobile-phone photograph. Only 1 account was collected; the photograph was attached as temoin_image_097.jpg. During the investigation, the witness confirmed that it had not actually passed directly overhead. The investigation placed the phenomenon more than 13 km away, over the Vingrau quarries northwest of Claira; see situation_PAN.png. It passed over the Domaine de Montpins, then Rivesaltes, then toward the sea to the east. GEIPAN states that the witness therefore viewed it from a distance and head-on throughout. It gained altitude and disappeared as if its light had gone out. In the submitted photograph, the UAP has the same sphere-and-hook appearance as the 10 farthest streetlights along the road on the right. The hook is probably a sensor artifact. Although unusual, the shape closely resembles the distortions on those distant streetlights, as shown in image_097_deformation. What the witness mainly found strange was the powerful white light and its disappearance while receding, rather than the perceived half-ring. The path, speed and altitude are entirely compatible with a gendarmerie or Civil Protection helicopter. Dragon66 has a forward searchlight and conducts nighttime training in the early evening, but GEIPAN could not confirm a flight that evening. GEIPAN assesses the case as rather low in strangeness, with the photographic artifact increasing that impression. Evidential support is medium, based on 1 witness and 1 photograph. A phenomenon passing over 2 busy villages at 18:55 should have attracted notice. With no further reports, GEIPAN suggests that nearer observers may have recognized it. The case is classified B: probably a helicopter with a forward-mounted SX-16 searchlight.