SAINT-OUEN-L'AUMONE (95) 05.09.2013

On 5 September 2013 at 04:29, a witness taking a break at work in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône sat outside a building and was surprised by 5 powerful white flashes in succession, seen toward a nearby mobile-phone relay antenna, called 'GMS' in the source. He heard no unusual sound, and no other account was obtained. After a field investigation with the witness, GEIPAN's investigator carefully assessed several explanations. The best fit was illumination of the cloud layer by flashes from the pantograph or pantographs of a passing train on a curved railway track 2, 500 m away along the observer's line of sight. This appeared to explain almost all the reported characteristics. GEIPAN classifies the case as B: probable flashes from an electric locomotive.