Sighting in Épernay, November 11, 2024

At around 5:30 pm, from their living room, the witness noticed a stationary point of light in the sky. Intrigued, they ended a phone call to photograph and then film it. The light moved away, growing much brighter, then went out. The witness kept recording and noticed rapid movements. Shortly afterwards, the object reappeared directly above their home. Stepping out onto the terrace, the witness described it as a round shape giving off light intermittently. In the end it moved off again and vanished into the clouds. What struck the witness as strange was the remarkable, unusual light combined with a complete absence of noise.

The case rests on a single witness, but the usable photos and videos gave it a satisfactory level of consistency. The investigation, carried out remotely and then on site, reduced the strangeness by exploring a drone hypothesis, which the witness had already considered. The apparent speed is compatible with that of a drone, which can vary widely. The disappearances of the light can be explained by remote switch-off or by temporary masking behind the drone's own structure. The white light, which does not match the colours required for aircraft, could come from a bright, user-customised light. The lack of noise is probably due to distance, the drone's moderate sound, and a wind that carried sound only at the very start. In the images, distances estimated with the IPACO software are consistent with common drone sizes, the trajectories (climbs, descents, hovering) are achievable by a drone, and the varied shapes come from defocusing caused by zoom, the actual light source being a single point.

The drone operator, who remains unidentified, broke several rules: the observation began at the cut-off time for flying, as flights are banned during aeronautical night, and the area is strictly off-limits to drones. GEIPAN classified the case as B, probable drone.