SAINT-CAPRAIS-DE-BORDEAUX (33) 15.08.2016

Around 00:30 on 15 August 2016, a woman at Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux (33) saw 3 white lights forming a triangle with a red light at the centre move continuously at very low altitude in a clear sky. She heard a loud engine-like humming. The sighting lasted 10 seconds. She took a phone photograph that did not reproduce what she saw. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN considered an unusually low aircraft very probable, possibly a military aeroplane or helicopter. It did not appear on civilian flight-tracking websites, and the request to defence authorities came too late because accessible archives covered only 1 month. Nevertheless, GEIPAN notes that 3 white lights and a central red light are typical of aircraft reports. These lights can be additional to standard navigation lighting, and witnesses often fail to recognise the steady red and green lights and flashing white light. The source cites CONCHES-EN-OUCHE (27), 23 February 2016, and [D417] Munster (68) to Colmar (68), 13 November 2015, on www.geipan.fr as examples. GEIPAN also stresses the reported aircraft-engine-like hum. It classified the case A: observation of an aircraft.