Sighting in La Saulce, January 20, 2012

At around 8:25 a.m., under a clear sky, a witness and their daughter noticed something puzzling above the Col de Blaux. The witness photographed a white trail of smoke whose left end turned black before disappearing behind the mountain, toward the Caire valley. The witness thought something had fallen and crashed to the ground, but had seen no craft and heard no particular noise. The witness gave a statement to the gendarmerie.

The gendarmerie found no trace on the ground, no other testimony from residents of the valley, and no sign of controlled burning or fire in the area. The passage of a military aircraft could not be confirmed. The gendarmes noted that at that time of year and that hour the rising sun is low and dazzling, which could explain the change in colour. The case was covered in several press and online articles.

Three hypotheses were considered: an aircraft crash, smoke rising from the ground, and an aircraft contrail. GEIPAN classified the case B: it was very probably a persistent contrail, distorted by the wind shear it had been subjected to since it formed. The dark part was simply a section not yet lit by the rising sun.