Sighting in Arles, August 11, 2012
Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Sighting on August 11, 2012 in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was an aircraft contrail (class A).
What happened
Two people were at a fishing spot they regularly used, under a clear sky. They noticed bright objects, some of them stationary and others moving quickly and silently, with trails behind them. Intrigued, they watched what was happening. One of them filmed and photographed it, and later reported the sighting.
The investigation found that the photos and videos clearly resembled aircraft trails. That morning the air was probably very dry and the sky was lit by the light of the sunrise, which made the trails look very bright and gave a distinct impression of speed. GEIPAN classified the case as A: what the witnesses saw were aircraft condensation trails.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- August 11, 2012
- Location
- Arles · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Aircraft
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-08-08315
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.