Sighting in Landrecies, September 26, 2006

At about 9:30 p.m., a witness who was watching television with their children heard a very loud noise that made the house shake, and noticed a light outside. Going out, the witness saw two headlights approaching the house with a deep, very powerful rumble. Two orange balls hovered for a few seconds above the house, then moved away. Farther off, they separated before disappearing into the distance. The rumble was continuous throughout the observation and grew markedly louder at the moment of separation. The passage was accompanied by a gas that irritated the eyes and throat. The witness's partner, who had been away at the time, came home about ten minutes later and also noticed the irritating smell, which was still there.

Within a radius of about twenty kilometres, other people heard or saw part of the phenomenon. The next day, the witnesses found a whitish substance on the ground in several places beneath the presumed path. It disappeared in the sunlight. The Institut de la Police Scientifique analysed samples: no trace of kerosene was found, and nothing linked the deposits to the phenomenon (they were probably a natural effect of humidity).

The GEIPAN investigation concluded that the witnesses had seen two Mirage aircraft on an approach manoeuvre toward Cambrai, in a configuration that forced them to fly very low and very slowly. The case was classified A.