SAINTE-MAURE-DE-TOURAINE (37) 08.08.2022

On the night of August 7-8, 2022, at 00:14, a witness, unable to find sleep, decided to observe the starry sky from his window, which was closed. He observed a single light that seemed to emit several colors alternately. He then took his phone and filmed the scene. Subsequently, 2 distinct lights at opposite ends of a single phenomenon were visible. He made 4 videos by taking breaks of 5 to 10 minutes to view what he had filmed. On the 4th video, lights appeared on an oblique line. Tired and a little worried, after several minutes he abandoned the observation. He thought he had seen the phenomenon in the morning going north at high speed. The case is well documented by the video evidence. Witness availability and responses to additional questions are elements in favour of good evidential quality*. *according to the GEIPAN criteria, evidential quality is the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively established. The strangeness of the case is mainly the result of the 4th video. The case study allowed the elimination of many hypotheses (see the investigation report). After several explanatory attempts, the checks answered all the questions raised by the case. On August 07th, 2022 in the afternoon, a forest fire broke out at the place called Le Plessis in the commune of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine (37), burning half a hectare. Fire vehicles remained until early morning to monitor the area. Their presence explains the witness’s reported colors, observation duration and line of lights around 00:17 on 8 August, which were the lights of vehicles leaving the site. The findings of the analysis of the videos and images, as well as the circumstances in which the images were taken, have shown that the lights were nearby and close to the ground, rather than in the sky. The information provided by the gendarmerie confirms a fire in a direction very close to that provided by the witness. The strangeness of the case itself stems from the conditions for making the videos. The investigation reduces the apparent strangeness by establishing that firefighters were at the site during the observation. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of light on the ground showing human activity following a forest fire.