Sighting in Golfech, October 6, 2010

Two people were standing outside a building at the Golfech nuclear power plant at 8:17 p.m. when something flew over the plant. They described a black triangle with flashing white lights at its corners and a flashing red light in the middle. It flew low under a dark, cloudy sky, and no sound was heard. One of the witnesses filmed it with a mobile phone, and the object then gradually faded from view in the direction of Saint Loup.

A first GEIPAN investigation, closed in November 2012, concluded that an aircraft had probably passed over. A second investigation began in October 2013, once access to the plant site became possible, and looked at several possibilities: an EDF maintenance aircraft, an airplane, a drone, a hoax, or an unexplained phenomenon. The case file has weaknesses. The two witnesses interpreted the phenomenon very differently, one of them proved easily influenced when comparing a statement to the gendarmerie with a later interview, and the video, which the other witness regarded as proof, turned out to show only streetlights and may have influenced that witness's memory. The airplane hypothesis also has inconsistencies: it would require major distortions in the testimonies and a low-flying aircraft that neither radar nor the plant's surveillance detected.

GEIPAN considers it certain that three flashing points of light arranged in a triangle around a flashing red light passed over. The black triangle is probably a contour illusion, and the real object could have been four independent light sources or a much larger craft. The altitude cannot be determined. At its April 2016 meeting, GEIPAN's panel of experts was split: 4 voted for D1 (unexplained), and 8 voted for C, finding too many inconsistencies. The case is classified C because the information is not reliable enough.