NAVENNE (70) 14.08.2021

Around midnight on the night of 13–14 August 2021, a witness stepped onto his terrace in Navenne (70) for fresh air and saw several faint white lights moving in a V formation. They travelled relatively quickly and straight from northwest to southeast, seemed very close and disappeared behind nearby trees after about 8–10 seconds. Only 1 account was collected; see the investigation report. GEIPAN assessed the evidential strength, defined as the amount of reliable information collected for an account, as moderate: a single witness, no photographs and no video. The investigation concluded that a V-shaped group of birds was very probable, probably wild ducks such as mallards travelling between feeding grounds and a roost or making a partial migration. The V formation, faint lights, urban lighting, silence, apparent proximity and speed supported this explanation. GEIPAN classified the case A: birds flying in V formation.