MAGNY-LES-HAMEAUX (78) 06.02.2017

On 6 February 2017 at 19:16, a witness standing outside his garage saw a dark triangle with 2 white lights moving slowly above his house. The observation lasted 30 seconds, insufficient for him to take a photograph. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN concludes that he probably saw a low-flying aircraft. Both Plane Finder's virtual-radar record and the national radar record show low-altitude aircraft movement at or immediately near the observation site; see the attached reconstruction. Unfortunately, the national radar display was framed beside rather than over the location, but the end of a track heading toward it is visible. Both records show the aircraft circling or making return passes, allowing it to have crossed east to west as reported. GEIPAN did not consider identifying the aircraft necessary or justified, since its cooperation with national radar systems indicated no unusual behavior. Its specific characteristics are therefore unavailable for comparison. Nonetheless, the reported appearance fits an aircraft: red and green navigation lights often cannot be seen from the ground, while white landing lights or red ground-identification lights can dominate. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of an aircraft.