Sighting in L'Union, July 22, 2023

During the night of 21 to 22 July, the witness, at home, noticed a bright red light that stayed still and gave off red pulses. Assuming it was an aircraft, they paid it little attention and went back inside. About fifteen minutes later, back on the balcony, they saw the red light again, now with a faint green glow, still motionless.

Suddenly it moved to the left, stopped for a few minutes, then set off again to the right. For about twenty minutes it went back and forth from left to right, sometimes pausing. The witness watched it continuously until about 2:00 a.m., and the light disappeared around 2:05 a.m. toward the northwest. The witness filmed and photographed it. No other testimony was gathered. They had not found any aircraft using the Flightradar24 app.

GEIPAN rated the case's consistency as very good despite the single witness, because the account was complete and precise. The description (red and green lights, a blinking point of light) and the movement, first stationary and then back and forth, matched a helicopter. An analysis of air traffic by the CNOA confirmed it was a gendarmerie helicopter deployed during an intervention following an urban rodeo. Flightradar24 does not track all military aircraft, which explains why nothing appeared on the app. The case was classified A.