Sighting in Loriol-sur-Drôme, October 26, 2011
Drôme, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Sighting on October 26, 2011 in Loriol-sur-Drôme (Drôme, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably an aircraft (plane, helicopter…) (class B).
What happened
At around 8:30 p.m., a witness noticed an extremely bright, star-like object in the sky, in the area of the constellation Aquarius. The witness was surprised to see its brightness fade gradually until it was only a tiny point in the sky.
The investigation compared the sighting to an aircraft seen head-on with its headlight on, more than 10 km away, a distance at which the green and red navigation lights cannot be seen. The aircraft would then have changed direction, as the map in the file shows. This hypothesis could not be verified: it was put to the witness, who did not reply. GEIPAN classified the case as B, a probable sighting of an aircraft seen head-on with its headlight on.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- October 26, 2011
- Location
- Loriol-sur-Drôme · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Aircraft
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2011-10-02836
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.