SEZANNE (51) 30.05.2012

On 30 May 2012, a witness in Sézanne (51) found flattened grass in a wooded plot he owned. The affected area was about 4 m in diameter, with the grass slightly yellowed. No surrounding traces suggested an animal or vehicle had caused it. The evidence consists of a single photograph, with no measurements or detailed inspection of the patch and its surroundings. GEIPAN regards a vortex caused by local wind as the least unlikely hypothesis, but relevant weather data or other local disturbances could not substantiate it. Of the many explanations considered, none satisfactorily fits the quantifiable, usable information from the photograph and account. GEIPAN judges the evidential strength roughly moderate: a fairly precise account, but one witness, one photograph and no site examination. GEIPAN considers the observation fairly unusual because the phenomenon initially seems uncommon. The case is classified as C: unidentifiable on the available information, with too little evidence for a sound opinion.