SAINT-LAURENT-LE-MINIER (30) 08.07.2014

At 21:33 on 8 July 2014, a witness in Saint-Laurent-le-Minier (30) saw a very bright yellow rectangle move quickly, silently and straight above the horizon for 6–8 seconds. No other accounts were collected. The Sun had set 8 minutes earlier. The witness looked southeast and saw left-to-right movement; see his drawings. GEIPAN explains that an aircraft illuminated from the side by low sunlight can appear as a bright rectangle: its wings receive no direct rays, while its flat tail fin reflects in a different direction from the cylindrical fuselage. A grey halo could arise from atmospheric optics, complex at low elevation, or a local dazzling effect in the observer's eye. Flightradar provided a candidate, an Air France Orly–Marseille flight approaching Marignane. GEIPAN classified the case A: aircraft observed at sunset.