Sighting in Conches-en-Ouche, February 23, 2016

Around midnight on the night of 23–24 February 2016, several people travelling by car were struck by a large object passing very low overhead, at about treetop height. It moved slowly and showed lights of different colours, some steady and some flashing. The witnesses described it as round or triangular. Four of them gave statements to the gendarmerie: three were in the same vehicle and the fourth was a lone witness.

The investigation showed that all of them had seen a C130 military aircraft, positively identified through air traffic records. It had taken off from Évreux air base 105 heading south-west, then passed at low altitude south of the town on a heading of about 210°. Several factors explain the misidentification: the size of this military aircraft and its apparently slow flight; an illusion of hovering for the witnesses driving on the RD830, caused by a "pivot effect" that the row of trees in the foreground made stronger; and the full Moon, which was not seen directly but whose reflection on the aircraft, or scattering through the treetops, produced disc, cone and halo effects.

The accounts differ considerably: estimated distances ranged from 300 m to 10 km, shapes varied, red lights were steady for some and flashing for others, and the witnesses disagreed over whether the car had stopped. Influence between witnesses is possible. GEIPAN classified the case as A: mistaken identification of an aircraft.