SAINT-GERMAIN-SUR-AY (50) 23.09.2013

On 23 September 2013 between 20:10 and 20:25, a motorist on the D650 from Les Mezières to Saint-Germain-sur-Ay beach (50) noticed 2 bright points in the sky. One in particular travelled straight away at a constant speed towards the northwest. She clearly identified an aircraft with a contrail crossing her view. She stopped at 2 places to take several photographs of the intriguing light. GEIPAN finds the account and very good photographs strongly suggestive of a distant aircraft contrail receding from her. Enlarging the last images reveals a flame-like shape, interpreted as a perspective view of a contrail brightly illuminated by the setting Sun, which had set at 19:54. Attached FlightRadar24 reconstructions show 1 or even 2 possible aircraft producing these trails. However, the reported viewing direction is insufficiently precise to establish that these were the aircraft involved, and FlightRadar24 shows only civil aircraft carrying a particular type of equipment. The source refers to other similar contrail cases. GEIPAN classifies the case B: very probable observation of aircraft contrails lit by the setting Sun.