SEILHAC (19) 04.09.2021

On 4 September 2021 at about 23:06, a resident of Seilhac (19) was following his usual bedtime routine of looking at the Great Bear, just above his garage, through his bathroom window. As he opened the window, a very bright horizontal “cigar” immediately caught his eye. It was white, with a faint red flash in the middle. He initially thought it was an aircraft, but soon noticed that it appeared stationary. It remained motionless for “a good minute”, then moved very slowly until it disappeared behind a tree. He estimated the total duration at about 1 minute 30 seconds. He often watched the night sky, particularly shooting stars, and wrote that he could distinguish aircraft, satellites and fireballs. He described feeling a surge of joy at seeing the luminous cigar, thinking it might be a UFO. GEIPAN identifies the observation as Transavia flight TO4159 from Oran to Paris (see the investigation report). The description is typical of an aircraft, and this airliner was at the reported UAP position at the stated time. Its considerable distance was consistent with the low angular elevation. Perspective can make an aircraft at that distance and so close to the horizon appear stationary, explaining the apparent lack of movement for “a good minute” that made the sighting seem unusual. GEIPAN rates the evidential support as good: there was one witness and no photograph, but the account was fairly complete and radar plots of aircraft trajectories were available. It classifies the case A: observation of an aircraft, flight TO4159.