CROLLES (38) 09.09.2015

On 9 September 2015 at 21:30, a witness saw a rectangular form moving above the Belledone mountain range for 3 seconds. The narrative describes it as pale yellow with a black central stripe, whereas the source summary describes a black shape with an orange central band. It traveled silently in a straight descending line without changing heading. Only 1 account was collected. The observation site was only 3 km from a very active paragliding site. GEIPAN finds the appearance compatible with a paraglider flying at night. The source explains that aeronautical night begins 30 minutes after local sunset and describes night paragliding and hang-gliding rules as requiring 2 lights, 1 green and 1 red, notification to the prefecture, and flight only within 3 days before or after a full Moon. It states that the lunar condition was not met here, regards the hypothesized flight as unauthorized, and uses that to explain the missing regulation lights. The 7th Chasseurs Alpins Regiment at Varces reported no military exercises that night. GEIPAN concludes that the sighting probably involved an unauthorized civilian night paragliding flight; see the attached investigation report. The evidential basis is moderate, with 1 account and some differences between the questionnaire and information collected on site, but sufficient given the level of strangeness. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable misidentification of a paraglider.