Sighting in Carcassonne, August 9, 2021

At around 1 a.m., a witness lying on the terrace of their room, inside the walled city, was scanning the sky hoping to spot shooting stars, as the Earth was then passing through the Perseid stream. For less than 10 seconds, they saw a line of evenly spaced lights arranged in a delta-wing shape, with roughly ten lights on each arm. The lights were powerful and steady, with no flashing or blinking, and as bright as the brightest stars at that moment. The whole formation crossed the sky in 4 or 5 seconds, moving from northwest to southeast at a constant speed and in complete silence. The witness judged it much faster than satellites. Its apparent size was that of a thumb held at arm's length. Suddenly, the last three lights on one arm made a brief, abrupt sideways move and then returned to their place. The witness themselves thought of migrating birds, but could not account for the light or the speed. They were the only person to report the sighting, and they included a drawing.

According to the GEIPAN, the speed remains compatible with birds. The city's ramparts are lit by powerful floodlights aimed at the sky, and birds flying in a V formation overhead can reflect that light off their chests. A brief departure from the formation followed by a return is normal for birds, and the northwest-to-southeast direction matches known migration routes in the region. An ornithologist ruled out cranes, storks and other large soaring birds, which fly only by day, as well as herons, which rarely fly in V formation. In their view, great cormorants were the most plausible candidates, and a reflection off their white patches or beak could not be excluded. The case was classified B: probable observation of a flock of birds flying in a V formation.