SAINT-COME-DU-MONT (50) 12.11.2014

The witness was driving southeast on the N13 from Chef-du-Pont to Carentan when he saw something yellow-white ‘like a comet’. He reported clear weather, although Météociel records show rain at Cherbourg and showers ending at Caen. The Sun rose at 07:45 east-southeast, azimuth 114°, slightly left of the road’s roughly 135° heading. At 08:00 the rising Sun was almost directly ahead, perhaps veiled by morning mist. Flightradar24 records (attached) show several large airliners flying high from west to east then, including Airbus A330 DLH425 and a Boeing 777. Their contrails can be seen from about 120 km away, at roughly 6° above the horizon. At that distance, apparent movement is slight, perspective makes a trail look short, and backlighting by the rising Sun can make it yellow, orange or sometimes red (see the article on unusual aircraft contrails). GEIPAN identifies these comet-shaped contrails near the horizon and classifies the case A: aircraft contrails.