Sighting in Aiton, November 20, 2021

On a Saturday between 5:10 and 5:30 pm, several people noticed a number of dark "smoke" trails in the sky. Curious, they took many photographs, but only one of them sent a report to GEIPAN. The shapes were elongated and vaporous, moving across the sky, and dark in colour with an orange tint on the side facing the setting Sun. The witness found the dark colour strange, as well as the impression that the trails were rising vertically.

The investigation considered the report consistent, given the number of people present and the many photos. The visual appearance matched airliner contrails very well, and the sighting took place between sunset and the end of twilight, which is typical for this kind of observation. The path of the "smoke" trails followed an air corridor used by airliners. At GEIPAN's request, the CNOA supplied a radar map covering 16:00 to 16:30 UTC, i.e. 5:00 to 5:30 pm local time, which shows heavy traffic in that corridor. The dark colour is explained by the time of day. As for the apparent vertical climb, it was an impression: the trails were in fact getting closer to the witness. The case was classified A: observation of contrails.