TAILLAN-MEDOC (LE) (33) 15.12.2013

On Sunday 15 December 2013 at 18:30, a witness saw a silent, stationary orange light apparently larger than an aircraft in a clear sky. After a few minutes it receded and rapidly disappeared along an ascending path. GEIPAN first considered 2 explanations for the nearly stationary light low above the horizon. A head-on aircraft at low altitude or approaching Bordeaux-Mérignac should have come closer and shown flashing lights. Military air-control radar shows heavy activity, but the poorly legible record cannot clearly correlate a flight with the sighting. In the area north-west of Le Taillan towards Sainte-Hélène and north-east towards Cubzac, the source lists civilian tracks: - GE751, heading 200°, FL380, given as 12,000 m. - GE962, climbing through FL110, given as 3,300 m, heading 020° after a turn south of Saint-Jean-d’Illac from an initial heading of 220°. - GA474, heading 020°, FL380, given as 12,000 m. - Two superimposed tracks: heading 220°, descending through 3,500 ft, given as 1,200 m, at 17:13; and heading 040°, climbing through 2,000 ft at 17:46. - GE743, heading 160° at 3,800 ft, given as 1,300 m. A sky lantern fits colour, appearance, duration and elevation. The light easterly wind should, however, have pushed it left, which the witness did not report. Local wind may have differed from Mérignac’s. At twilight, sunlight reflected by a weather balloon released from Mérignac is another possibility. Two other bright events occurred nearby in time: the ISS passed south-west to north-east from 18:07 to 18:16, poorly matching the reported viewing direction; and an Iridium satellite flared for a few seconds at 18:25 due south, low above the horizon. Several hypotheses could explain this slightly unusual observation, but none fits perfectly. GEIPAN classifies it C for insufficient information and corroboration.