TROIS-ILETS (LES) (972) 29.04.2024

On 29 April 2024 at 18:18 local time, a holidaymaker watched from an apartment balcony in Les Trois-Ilets, Martinique, as a rocket- or missile-like UAP followed an almost vertical apparent path. He recorded a video. His partner also saw it but submitted no formal account. The case is well substantiated by a detailed account and video; although the source calls this a “single witness” case, it also records the partner's presence. Substantiation means the amount of reliable, objectively established information collected for an account. Starlink satellites and an aircraft were considered (see investigation report). Analysis identified a Cessna Citation 700: - FlightRadar24 showed aircraft N806QS over the area at the time. - Its direction and movement closely matched the account. - The elongated shape fits a fuselage accompanied by a contrail formed at 12,000 m, partly illuminated by the setting Sun. - Straight motion at steady speed also supports identification. Altitude explains the lack of sound and poorly visible wings. The 2 engines at the rear of the fuselage produce a contrail, lit below the flight path by the setting Sun, creating a continuous, uniform-looking structure from the ground. Starlink did not fit: satellites normally appear as points without trails, and their azimuth and elevation differed. The case is classified A, described by the source as an “airliner observation,” with the aircraft specifically identified as a Cessna Citation 700.