HAVRE (LE) (76) 30.05.2015

On 30 May 2015 at about 14:00, a witness watching aircraft dropping parachutists saw a white object between 2 of the aircraft. It descended in a zigzag with rapid, jerky movements, then moved away at a phenomenal apparent speed. GEIPAN contacted Abeille Parachutisme in Honfleur, which confirmed repeated parachuting flights that day. A club official explained that objects sometimes escape from the drop aircraft and follow curved, convoluted paths under the influence of air currents rather than falling straight. An object falling from an aircraft initially has the aircraft's speed, then experiences gravity pulling it downward, aerodynamic forces slowing and rotating it, the prevailing wind carrying it along, and possible local currents, sometimes rising. Their combined effects could explain the chaotic trajectory of what the source considers a very low-density object. The reported flat, rectangular shape could be a piece of cardboard. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable object fallen from a parachute-drop aircraft.