Sighting in Le Cannet, August 1, 2011

At around 12:25, in broad daylight, a driver and their passenger noticed a bright object in the sky. It seemed to hang motionless, then vanished all at once. The sighting lasted four to five seconds.

GEIPAN's investigation noted that brief points of light seen in daytime are usually either flashes from Iridium satellites or aircraft on approach seen head-on. In this case, the air navigation service confirmed that a Falcon 900 was approaching Cannes airport at exactly the spot and time the witness gave. The light may have come from the aircraft's landing light, and possibly also from sunlight reflecting off the plane. When the aircraft turned to line up with the runway, the witness was no longer in line with its lights and the glow appeared to go out. Witnesses often read such a disappearance as a sudden, rapid departure. Since the aircraft was identified as the source of the light, the case was classified A: fully identified.