Sighting in Les Neyrolles, March 24, 1993

A witness was at their post in the toll station of the A 40 motorway when they saw a luminous phenomenon cross the sky. The sighting lasted about twenty seconds and was completely silent. The phenomenon left a trail behind it and moved slowly, at low altitude, over the mountainous landscape. The witness gave a precise description of what they had seen.

A newspaper article mentioning several accounts had prompted the witness to make a statement, but no other witness could be found. GEIPAN therefore considered the case moderately consistent, since it rested on a single person, though the witness's sincerity and credibility were never questioned. According to the investigation notes, the witness very probably got the date of the sighting wrong.

The investigation found many features in common between the description (duration, shape, size, speed, trajectory) and an artificial atmospheric re-entry. The account fits well within the mass sighting that followed the re-entry of 31 March 1993, linked to a Cyclone-M rocket. The witness's perception was not at issue, but rather their interpretation of an unusual astronomical phenomenon seen at night and reported late. The case, of low strangeness, was classified A.