Sighting in Aigues-Mortes, July 7, 2021

Shortly before midnight, while looking at the sky from home, the witness saw two luminous spheres flying side by side from west to east. One of them crossed the path of the other. They were a muted white, moved fast, and stayed in view for an estimated 5 to 7 seconds. The witness was alone and there was no photo or video, so the GEIPAN rated the consistency of the account as average.

The objects' relatively high speed and their appearance immediately ruled out a meteorological, astronomical or astronautical cause. The wind was blowing from the northwest while the objects came from the west-southwest, so they could not have been passive objects carried by the wind, such as balloons or Thai lanterns.

The investigation concluded that the witness had probably seen a small group of white birds, most likely gulls, flying silently from their feeding area to their roost. Several points supported this: the observation site is very rich in birdlife, close to the Camargue regional nature park and to wetlands; the flight was silent and straight, in a small group, consistent with the social habits of gulls; the birds' real shape and wingbeats were not noticed, probably because of the distance, or because they were gliding during the very short sighting; and their white plumage showed against the black sky thanks to the faint light from the town's streetlamps, which explains their dim look. The conclusion remains qualified: the witness, used to watching the sky, could have recognized birds, and the lighting conditions are hard to reconstruct. The GEIPAN classified the case B: probable observation of birds.