MENTON (06) 20.05.2013

On Monday 20 May 2013 at about 16:05, a person lying on Menton beach (06) saw an intriguing phenomenon offshore. A white object sat at the centre of a translucent circular halo in what he described as a clear sky. It moved from west to east-southeast, much faster than an aircraft in his estimation, without sound. After 10–15 seconds it disappeared into the distance. From the beach, he described an elongated white object in a round halo over the sea, at an unestimable distance; see the map. Although he reported clear sky, local Météociel records indicated partial cloud, possibly a thin veil of cloud. GEIPAN suggests an aircraft surrounded by a halo from sunlight reflected off its fuselage, an atmospheric optical phenomenon the source calls a Brocken spectre; see its reference on atmospheric optical phenomena. The available information cannot confirm this hypothesis, and the witness considered the speed incompatible with an aircraft. Without photographs, other accounts or measurements for corroboration, GEIPAN classifies the case C: insufficient information.