SAN-MARTINO-DI-LOTA (20) 15.08.2017

A witness reports several phenomena observed from his home at SAN-MARTINO-DI-LOTA (20) and in particular that of Tuesday, August 15, 2017 between 9:10 and 9:20 p.m. That evening, the witness describes the observation of instantaneous and simultaneous flashes to the northeast at azimuth 25°, which after disappearance reappeared in the same way, to the east at azimuth 90°, to instantly disappear and reappear again four times, in different places in the sky. The duration of the observation is estimated at approximately 10 minutes. Only 1 account was collected on this phenomenon. The witness compiled footage of different luminous phenomena into a video. An investigator met with the witness who mixed the observations of August 15, October 09 and 14, 2017, and he recounted several sightings while offering his own analysis. The witness confirmed that the only focus should be on the observation of August 15, the other observations, in his own analysis, could have been helicopters or drones. On the evening of August 15, 2017, he saw two simultaneous flashes in white light on the left of his terrace (northeast, azimut 25°, elevation 20° above the horizon). He then saw flashes on 4 occasions at different places in the sky. According to the witness, the weather was beautiful, the sky was clear, with heat haze which partly masked the Italian islands of Capraia and Elba. According to the weather bulletin, the weather was indeed fine, with a clear sky, and a temperature of 21°C at around 21h00 and a visibility at 40 km. A contact was made with the air transport gendarmerie of Bastia-Poretta airport. No specific reports or testimony were reported during the month of August 2017, or subsequently. A search was carried out with 2 local gendarmerie units, which proved negative. Contact was also made with the air navigation service of the Bastia-Poretta airport control tower to check the departure and arrival times of the aircraft on 15 August and to obtain radar records: no confirmation was obtained. The witness's feeling: he is a former scientist, and he is very interested in everything that happens in the sky. He is particularly aware and interested in everything that might resemble “UFOs” in the Corsican sky and was hoping to make sightings himself. In conclusion: several Corsican municipalities often fire fireworks on the evening of August 15 to celebrate the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte and a religious feast (Sainte Marie). Private individuals (mainly restaurants, discotheques) do likewise, given the tourist traffic at this time, and can also use very powerful lasers (even if we have not obtained any confirmation on this point for that evening). However, on August 15 a fireworks display was held at BASTIA at 22:00 and at the municipality of SAN-MARTINO-DI-LOTA (20), on the beach of MIOMO at 21:30. At 21:15 a test firing was carried out on MIOMO with a few rockets to assess the atmospheric conditions. It is possible that tests were also carried out on BASTIA before 22:00, but we did not get a response from the municipality. Checks for Iridium flares and the passage of the ISS remained negative. There were many ships on the sea on the evening of August 15, which was confirmed by the harbor authority of BASTIA. People were waiting for the fireworks, but we only have one witness to the phenomenon. Nothing was reported to the local gendarmerie and no news articles appeared in the press. The observation site is suitable for the sighting of many lights in the sky; indeed Italy is directly opposite across the sea, Elba Island has an airport and many helicopters shuttle between the islands of Elba and Capraia. Many air corridors are present in this area with French, Italian and international traffic. We have not managed to obtain information on air traffic. GEIPAN accepts that the witness saw lights but lacks sufficient information to confirm any of these hypotheses, although fireworks were a realistic possibility on 15 August. The GEIPAN classifies the case in "C" for lack of usable information.