PARIS (75) 21.08.2017

On 21 and 22 August 2017 between 21:00 and 23:00, a witness on an eighth-floor balcony in Paris photographed and filmed lights that appeared stationary and then moved. Only one account was collected. The initial report seemed unusual because it suggested individual lights remained stationary for a long time. During a telephone interview, however, the witness clarified that each light lasted at most 1–2 minutes. The interview also established that he was looking generally south from Paris's 10th arrondissement, contrary to the northeast direction given in the questionnaire. These details suggested aircraft landing lights on approach to Orly. Traffic patterns showed numerous aircraft approaching Orly northward, with their lights facing Paris, at altitudes of 1,000–3,000 m and distances of 20–60 km. GEIPAN calculates that at 400 km/h an aircraft could maintain approximately the same heading toward Paris for 20 km, or 3 minutes, appearing nearly stationary from the city. The altitudes would place the lights a few degrees above the horizon for a Paris observer with an unobstructed view over the rooftops, matching their elevation in the photographs and videos. GEIPAN considers the aircraft explanation certain, particularly because the witness said during the telephone interview that at least one light's movement eventually allowed him to see and recognize an aircraft's green and red lights. The analysis raises unanswered questions: why the misidentification occurred after he had lived in the same apartment for more than 10 years; why his initial account omitted the recognizable aircraft lights associated with one UAP; and why he placed the UAPs north-northeast despite observing from a south-facing balcony. The source's northeast and north-northeast questionnaire descriptions are retained here. GEIPAN classifies the case A: aircraft.