CLEDEN-CAP-SIZUN (29) 08.04.2019

On the evening of 8 April 2019, a witness and his daughters were on the first-floor terrace of a holiday cottage. He took 2 sunset photographs of the unobstructed ocean view, IMG_4170.jpg and IMG_4340.jpg. After dinner they returned to watch the stars and noticed 3 stationary, silent blue-white luminous balls aligned horizontally. He photographed them in IMG_4171.jpg, IMG_4172.jpg and IMG_4173.jpg. After losing the UAPs in his viewfinder, he took IMG_4174.jpg amid a burst of shots without accurately sighting them. He then took a final quick photograph, IMG_4175.jpg, to the right of a pine tree. He noticed that the luminous spheres appeared to be moving away. He could not explain what he had observed and photographed. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN assesses the evidence as very strong: the account is detailed, includes angular data and is supported by 5 analysable photographs (see the investigation report). It concludes that 2 distinct phenomena were involved: first Orion’s 3 Belt stars, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; then either Île de Sein’s streetlights or lights of a boat heading north through the Raz de Sein. The first identification matches the lack of movement, blue-white colour, azimuth, elevation and angular separation of the lights. The second matches azimuth and elevation. The witness did not live locally and was unfamiliar with the area, had no astronomical knowledge and lacked enough ambient night lighting to distinguish the horizon. A tree in the viewing direction, the observers’ probable movement on the terrace and difficulty framing the UAPs with the phone interrupted the observation. These factors prevented him from distinguishing the 2 phenomena, which he regarded as one. He also wanted to find the original UAPs in the last photograph. Examining it closely, he found 3 lights in approximately the same arrangement, although lower and closer together, and naturally identified them with the first set. This final image constitutes an indirect observation; the analysis states that only the star phenomenon is retained. GEIPAN’s stated final classification is A: certain observation of Orion’s 3 Belt stars and of urban lighting on Île de Sein or a boat travelling north through the Raz de Sein.