SALLAUMINES (62) 02.09.2024

On the night of 1–2 September 2024, T1 and his wife T2 sat on their south-facing terrace in Sallaumines (62), hoping to see an aurora. While taking phone photographs, T1 saw 3 black triangular forms in a line moving rapidly and silently south-southwest. He alerted T2, who initially suggested geese. The silence, speed and orange colouring led them to reject that idea. The forms disappeared behind a wooded rise at an elevation of approximately 30°. Their fronts appeared lighter, as stated in the summary. T1 recorded apparent height and size estimates but found no matching flight on Flightradar24. He supplied a visual reconstruction, photographs taken before and after the event, and a photograph of a fireball seen later that evening. There was no direct photograph of the UAPs. GEIPAN assessed strangeness and evidential support as moderate, with 2 observers but only 1 account. It defines evidential support as the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively established. After considering lanterns and fireballs, which did not fit the account or investigation findings, GEIPAN favoured birds flying at night and illuminated by streetlights (see the investigation report). Their bodies could appear triangular during a 3-second sighting in poor contrast, at small angular size. Orange streetlights, operating at the time, could reflect from lighter areas of plumage. A group flying in line also fitted birds. GEIPAN found T1's data compatible with birds 10–20 cm long, at a height of 15–20 m and speed of approximately 30 km/h. It suggested mallards or Eurasian teal, plentiful locally at that season, allowing for possible errors, particularly in size. Nearby wetlands supported many birds that might fly from feeding areas to roosts at night, perhaps after disturbance during the waterfowl-hunting season. GEIPAN classified the case B: probable birds.