VICQ (52) 06.03.2025

On 6 March 2025, around 1am, a witness in Vicq (52) took his dog out onto the terrace of his home when he observed, relatively low in the sky, just above other houses, two white light forms. He immediately returned to pick up his smartphone and took two photographs: one without zoom, the other with digital zoom. About fifteen minutes later, he attempted a new observation from the upper floor of his house, but the phenomena had disappeared. The evidential quality* of this case is good, although it is based on a single testimony, it is supported by two photographs used for the investigation. *according to the GEIPAN criteria, evidential quality is the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively established. The analysis of the photographs provided by the witness was carried out using the IPACO expert software used by GEIPAN for image processing and interpretation, GEIPAN’s analysis concludes that the 2 observed lights most likely correspond to the Moon and the planet Jupiter, then setting. This identification is based on several concordant elements: - The colour, white, is in line with that of the two celestial objects - The shape of the moon cannot be distinguished correctly by the witness, being partially masked by trees - The witness’s description of a small luminous “sideways V” probably results from later interpretation of the photographs, where slight camera shake during exposure can produce that shape. The shape is not identical in the 2 images. - As the celestial objects were setting, their very slow apparent movement is not noticeable over a short period of time, which is consistent with the observation conditions. - The perceived displacement of the smallest UAP (Jupiter) in relation to the largest (the Moon) between the two images can be explained by a simple change in the position of the witness, inducing a parallax effect. - The planisphere tool integrated in IPACO confirms that the astronomical position of the Moon and Jupiter when the photographs were taken (01h01 and 01h02) corresponds precisely to the apparent location of the two UAPs on the photographs (see Annexes 1 to 3). - At the time indicated, the two celestial objects are still visible above the horizon but close to being obscured by the landscape. Fifteen minutes later, their visual disappearance is consistent with their position masked by the surrounding trees and roofs. Finally, the witness mentions uncertainly a third object higher in the sky, visible only in the photograph taken without zoom. IPACO's analysis most likely identifies this object as the star Capella, of first magnitude. The GEIPAN classifies this case of observation as A: observation of the Moon and Jupiter.