Sighting in Cognac, December 17, 1957
Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Sighting from an aircraft on December 17, 1957 in Cognac (Charente, France). GEIPAN could not reach a conclusion for lack of sufficient information (class C).
What happened
Four military personnel on duty at the air base saw an echo appear on a radar screen at 15:01 (UT). The object was moving in from a distance of 40 km and vanished into the fixed echoes at 16 km. It remained visible on the radar for 30 seconds, which works out to a speed of 2,880 km/h.
Later that day, at 15:45 (UT), a second echo showed up at 37 km and disappeared at 25 km after 15 seconds of observation. The calculated speed was the same, 2,880 km/h. Two of the witnesses wrote a report illustrated with sketches.
GEIPAN classified the case as C because of insufficient information: there was no visual sighting, only radar echoes on a scope.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- December 17, 1957
- Location
- Cognac · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From an aircraft
- Source classification
- C
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 1957-12-00041
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.