PLAISANCE-DU-TOUCH (31) 29.08.2019

On 29 August 2019 at about 22:00, a witness in Plaisance-du-Touch (31) was watching the sky. After seeing several aircraft, he noticed a luminous circular shape with a red light rotating around its rim while the shape itself did not rotate. It moved in complete silence at an apparent speed 3–5 times that of an airliner. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN judges the evidential strength moderate: one witness and no photographs or video. Its investigation concluded that a drone was probable; see the investigation report. The dark, faintly luminous disk or potato-like shape, the red light circling its perimeter and the silence were considered compatible with a drone. The witness was particularly surprised by its very high apparent speed, shape and luminosity. GEIPAN finds the shape and dim dark appearance compatible with its hypothesis, noting that at night drone lights are what observers mainly perceive. The speed estimate is difficult to use because estimating actual speed requires knowing size and distance, virtually impossible at night without a fixed reference. The case is classified as B: probable observation of a drone.