Sighting in Le Havre, August 31, 2009

A hunter was outdoors at around 5 a.m. when they noticed an orange, cylindrical shape in the sky. They watched it through binoculars and described its color as uniform and bright, almost fluorescent. The object was at first motionless. It then began to rise with a swinging, pendulum-like motion lasting about ten minutes, after which it came back down in the same way and disappeared. It was over the English Channel, several kilometers off the coast.

The investigation went through several possible explanations: flares, a gas flare, a boat, a helicopter and an aircraft. None of them fit the witness's description. GEIPAN considered the observation rather strange and felt it would have deserved a field investigation, but it was unable to reach the witness. More than three years had also passed since the event, which would have made any checks unreliable. The case is classified C because of insufficient information.