Sighting in Clux-Villeneuve, May 18, 2019

Two people driving at 10:25 pm noticed an object in the night sky, flying at low altitude and showing three lights, one of them flashing. They pulled over at the side of the road, and one of the witnesses filmed the scene. Together they saw the object go around them. Panicking, they drove off quickly.

The GEIPAN looked at two possibilities: confusion with a drone, and confusion with an airliner on approach to Dole-Jura airport. Only the second was retained. The colours of the lights, white and red, match those used in aviation. In the video, the landing light can be identified, along with the red navigation light on the left wing, the white one on the tail fin, and two white anti-collision lights, one on the tail and one on the left wing, flashing at the same rate as on an A319, A320 or A321. The green light on the right wing does not appear, probably hidden by the body of the aircraft. The path reconstructed from the testimonies is that of an airliner first almost facing the witnesses, then passing on their left and making a loop behind them toward the airport. Finally, the video's soundtrack picks up a noise similar to aircraft engines, even though the witnesses described only a whistling sound.

The case was classified A: the witnesses saw an A319/A320/A321-type airliner on approach to Dole-Jura airport, about 20 km away.