RUPT-SUR-MOSELLE (88) 25.05.2018

On 25 May 2018 at about 21:00, a witness watching television saw a bright yellow light through a window facing the Rupt-sur-Moselle fort, about 2 km away in a straight line. Comparable in brightness to the Moon, it appeared and disappeared at roughly regular intervals, with beams, over 5–10 minutes. The witness reported it to the gendarmerie. The following week, the witness saw it again, took photographs and went out to investigate. The witness's enquiries found that soldiers from Épinal's 1st Tirailleur Regiment were exercising in the area with illumination flares. A photograph on a social-media page dedicated to the regiment, published 13 June 2018, confirmed this. The source describes that publication as 23 days after 25 May and 16 days after the second photographed sighting; these stated intervals are retained despite their inconsistency with the calendar dates. Only 1 account was collected. The investigation supports military exercises using illumination flares (see the investigation report). GEIPAN classifies the case A: misidentification of illumination flares during a military exercise.