SAINT-MARTIN-EN-BIERE (77) 21.07.2024

On 21 July 2024 at 00:10, T1 watched a single bright white, slightly bluish point for about 5 minutes from his terrace in Saint-Martin-en-Bière (77). Its brightness resembled a bright star or Venus, towards the south-west at an estimated elevation of 45°. He described several rapid vertical movements with stops, a partial ascent, a sideways shift of about 10°, then a return before disappearance. A storm was approaching with wind, lightning and a few raindrops. His partner, T2, also saw it but did not report to GEIPAN. The evidential strength is moderate: a detailed account and sketch, precise time, duration, direction and movement description. T1 made a video but did not supply it because he considered it unusable. Its very bright point-like appearance, abrupt movements and successive stops, intermittent flashing and silence made the experience striking. GEIPAN regards a drone as most plausible. A distant night-flying drone could appear point-like, alternate stationary phases with rapid short movements and flash intermittently. Its distance could not be estimated. The source states that the supposed flight area has a 50 m daytime limit and that night drone flight is prohibited except by exemption. In follow-up exchanges, T1 agreed that the available evidence mostly favoured a drone, though certainty was prevented by the prohibited night operation, windy storm conditions and absence of sound. Under that hypothesis residual strangeness remains moderate. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable drone flight in the night sky. Its evidential-strength criterion concerns the quantity of reliable, objectively supported information collected for an account.