PENNES-MIRABEAU (LES) (13) 02.08.2016

GEIPAN has completed its study of some investigated cases that had remained awaiting classification. It now publishes this assessment using the witness and investigation material collected at the time. On 2 August 2016, a witness watched five dark triangular objects pass silently in a straight line through a clear night sky for 5 seconds. Each had very faint red points at its corners. Together they formed a V, moved away fairly quickly and were lost from view. Only one account was collected. In the questionnaire's free-text section, the witness wrote: 'I was walking to the studio where I sleep, because the house has two floors. Around 23:05, before reaching the studio, I glanced up at the stars. I saw shadows that seemed to move; looking carefully, I saw triangular objects moving in a straight line, with a very faint red point at each corner, dimmer than a star and continuously lit. The shadows moved fairly quickly—my observation lasted about 5 seconds—and formed a V like birds in flight. At first I thought they were a flock of birds, but the points of light at the corners made me decide they were not birds. I also thought of airplanes, which seemed logical, but there was no sound in the sky, and I live in the countryside. The shadows continued until I lost sight of them.' The strangeness arose from a mismatch between what he saw and what he knew. He first thought of birds, but did not expect even faint red lights on birds. He then inferred airplanes, but their silence, as well as their shapes and red lights, seemed unusual. A field investigation and cognitive interview at his home on 26 June 2017 clarified several points: a silent passage from north, 360° ±5°, toward northeast, 65° ±5°, at 25° ±3° elevation; a more likely time of 23:00–23:20; and a duration of 5–9 seconds. After investigating several weakly supported hypotheses—sky lanterns, aircraft in formation, migratory birds and lasers—the investigator proposed class B for a drone, reasoning that a custom-built drone could match the description. Several points opposed this: no sound, although cicadas might have masked it; the source's stated prohibitions on night flight and flight over an inhabited area; and a substantial crash risk. Analyses in 2019 increasingly favored birds, but the faint red lights remained a distinguishing difficulty. Despite the witness's good cooperation, a single account, no photograph of the UAP and limited information prevented further identification of the lights and shapes. Both evidential strength and strangeness are moderate. The case is classified C under GEIPAN's methodology.