FONTAINEBLEAU (77) 29.10.2023

On 29 October 2023 at 16:55, a witness at home in Fontainebleau (77) saw what he described as a ballet of 4 bright points, resembling 4 large white stars in motion. They moved erratically, without apparent order, for about 3 minutes, then all disappeared suddenly. He supplied a reconstruction photograph taken from his viewing position, with the UAPs drawn onto it. GEIPAN assesses the evidential support as moderate because there were no additional witnesses and no photograph or video of the actual lights. Under its criteria, evidential support is the amount of information considered reliable and objectively established that has been collected for an account. The remote investigation, supplemented by a telephone interview, explored several explanations but retained only a group of birds such as egrets (see the investigation report). Although difficult to prove formally, this hypothesis plausibly explains most reported features: - White birds moving erratically could resemble the witness's 4 large moving stars. - The sky was cloudy with shafts of sunlight, and the witness placed the phenomenon within one such illuminated gap. Sunlit white birds could stand out sharply against the dark grey background. - Their sudden disappearance could occur when they entered shadow and became difficult to see at that distance. - Two wetlands supporting colonies of wading birds, including egrets, lie in the reported direction. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of egrets flying through a shaft of sunlight between clouds.