VIVIERS-LES-OFFROICOURT (88) 19.10.2022

On 19 October 2022, five people, two women and three men, were talking in a street in Viviers-lès-Offroicourt (88) when one noticed an unusual smoke column. It was thick and rose surprisingly vertically. As they watched, a dark point emerged and moved slowly away, leaving a thinner, less dense trail. The UAP moved progressively southwest and disappeared into the distance. They heard no sound and were puzzled. The first witness tried phone photographs, but they were blurred. He unsuccessfully sought a better camera, then told a journalist friend, who published a local newspaper article. He subsequently gave a gendarmerie statement and was referred to GEIPAN. Image processing suggested a high-altitude aircraft. GEIPAN’s investigative tools, particularly radar data from the National Air Operations Centre, CNOA, identified an Air France Airbus A319-111 flying Paris–Florence (see investigation report). The smoke column initially hid the aircraft’s path; a heading change separated it visually from the column. It flew at 11,000–12,000 m altitude, initially 58 km away, then approaching to 25 km—the source awkwardly describes the latter as “from the ground.” GEIPAN considers the distance sufficient to explain silence. After ruling out chimneys at two large businesses along the viewing direction, investigators found remains of a field burn in that direction. Light wind allowed smoke to rise almost vertically. Moisture and mixed straw produced thick smoke that appeared very dark against the light. The fire, whether authorized or unauthorized, deliberate or accidental, was only 470 m from the witnesses. An embankment hid it. Distance and a very light crosswind prevented hearing combustion or any people involved. GEIPAN finds the legitimate sense of strangeness fully resolved by a demonstrated explanation. The case is classified A: observation of an airliner’s condensation trail.