Sighting in Ampuis, December 29, 2015

From the first floor of their home, the witness noticed three elongated, bright white shapes in the sky at around 4:58 p.m., first to the south and then to the south-west. At first they seemed motionless, then they moved in a straight line without making any noise. A friend and a relative were with the witness. The observation lasted about 12 minutes.

Only one of the three witnesses reported the sighting to the GEIPAN. However, the witness took three photographs of the phenomena, which gave the case good consistency, meaning a good amount of information judged reliable and objective. These images made it possible to identify the phenomenon with certainty: they were three short contrails left by airliners and lit by the setting Sun. Their shape, colour and movement matched this explanation in every respect. The GEIPAN database and the website Méprises-du-ciel.fr hold many photographs of contrails that look exactly like the phenomena the witness photographed. The GEIPAN therefore classified the case as A.