MONTPELLIER (34) 22.07.2013

On Monday 22 July 2013 at about 18:15, a witness saw a shiny object streak silently across the sky at very high apparent speed. It was silver and had a bulging shape like a boater hat. Its approximate path was southeast to northwest in airspace used by Montpellier-Fréjorgues airport traffic. The very brief, 2–3-second sighting by a single witness is poorly documented, with no sketch. GEIPAN considers the apparent speed the unusual feature. If the object crossed 60° in 3 seconds at a distance of 200 m, its speed would already be about 270 km/h. Alternatively, it could have been a small windborne object only 15 or 20 m away, requiring a major error in the witness’s distance estimate. Weather records show a weakening southerly to southwesterly wind of about 18 km/h, which could just about fit the latter hypothesis. GEIPAN considers that further investigation would yield little additional information and classifies the case C for lack of precise information and corroboration.