BAROCHES (LES) (54) 03.02.2019

Late in the morning of 3 February 2019, a witness walking across fields near Les Baroches (54) saw a gray mass like a small cloud below the cloud cover. It moved very quickly despite the light wind. It attracted his attention by abruptly changing altitude until it disappeared into the clouds, then maneuvering before vanishing on a descending path. To the naked eye, it left an impression of rain falling in the distance for about 3 seconds before disappearing. He filmed it with his phone. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN notes several apparently unusual features: the final shape change, non-straight path, entry into clouds, dive toward the ground and silence. However, the shape, dark appearance, trajectory and final dive strongly suggest a flock of birds and fit every aspect of the observation; see the investigation report. A brief passage through clouds is not exceptional when their base is only about 500 m above ground. GEIPAN considers it very likely that a flock, particularly of starlings, flew just below the clouds before diving toward a source of food or a resting place. It classifies the case A: very highly probable observation of a flock of birds in flight.