PERPIGNAN (66) 28.08.2024

On 7 September 2024 at 03:30, a witness in his garden in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales, 66) saw an unidentified aerospace phenomenon consisting of 5 white luminous points. They travelled in a straight line from northeast to southwest. He lost sight of them behind a tree after about 5 seconds. GEIPAN rates the case’s evidential support as moderate: there is only 1 witness and no photograph or video (see the investigation report). In GEIPAN’s terminology, evidential support is the amount of reliable, objectively established information collected for an account. The witness found the regular formation and identical appearance of the 5 lights unusual. Their uniformity gave the impression of 1 large object rather than 5 separate objects. The investigation found that the sighting very probably involved storks illuminated by urban lighting. Between 24 August and early September, unusually large numbers of white storks were present in Perpignan and the Pyrénées-Orientales, attracting residents’ curiosity and coverage in several local media outlets. The witness’s home lies on the Perpignan–Villeneuve-de-la-Raho axis, matching the path of the 5 lights. He appears to have considered this explanation, writing in the questionnaire: ‘I did not want to be told that I had seen a flock of storks.’ GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of a group of birds.