Sighting in Douai, March 27, 2022

At about 9:30 pm, the witness was looking at the sky from their garden while letting their dogs out. They noticed an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) slightly to the right of a neighbour's roof antenna, moving in a straight line. The witness briefly looked down at the ground to reposition themselves, then resumed watching. The UAP had by then shifted a little further right, between the neighbour's antenna and their own. It had the shape of an equilateral triangle with sharp edges and a luminous colour the witness could not pin down: pink, orange or coral. Small, paler lights, of undetermined number, ran along the two sides leading to the front point.

The UAP moved steadily and silently along an axis that seemed to follow the street behind the property. After roughly 10 to 20 seconds it disappeared behind the line of tall fir trees on the neighbouring plot. Its appearance and behaviour never changed. There was one witness and no photo or video, but the account was very detailed and was taken the day after, so the GEIPAN rated the case's consistency as good.

The investigation, carried out remotely at first and then completed in the field in 2023, ruled out an aircraft, apart from a small, silent, very low-flying aircraft with no transponder, a scenario considered highly improbable. A drone following a curved path was examined: the trajectory and apparent speed were compatible, and a prison stood nearby. However, no known civilian drone matches the description, even though LED lights can be added, and such a sharp triangular shape would still be unusual. At the minimum possible distance, about 28 m, only a drone of around one metre or more would have been visible; such machines are mostly professional or military, and their noise should have been audible, with wind not explaining the silence. A civilian night flight there would have been illegal, but nothing supports it. Only one of the drone companies contacted replied, and it knew of no such operation. A Marine nationale and Aéronavale drone instructor said no known military lighting layout matched. The GEIPAN classified the case as D: unidentified after investigation.