CHATTE (38) 14.07.2020

On 14 July 2020 at 18:55, a resident of Chatte (38) watched a white triangular object for several tens of seconds. It moved rapidly and steadily from northeast to southwest at high altitude. He described an equilateral triangle with sharp outlines and one corner pointing forward. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN assesses the evidential strength as moderate: a single witness with no photographs or videos. Under its criteria, evidential strength is the amount of information considered reliable that is collected for an account. The analysis found an aircraft to be the only plausible explanation; see the investigation report. A Flightradar24 check showed an A320 over Chatte at a matching time and on a similar path. The witness was surprised by the apparent altitude and equilateral-triangle shape. The aircraft was in cruise and passed directly overhead at high altitude. GEIPAN considers the triangular appearance probably an incorrect interpretation of the combined fuselage and wing silhouette. GEIPAN classifies the case as A: observation of a Vueling A320 flying from Copenhagen to Barcelona, directly above the witness at the sighting time.