Sighting in Manosque, July 1, 2021

One evening at about 8:45 p.m., the witness was on their balcony when two objects crossed paths in the sky. They were bright white and egg-shaped. At first the witness took them for two airplanes, but they could not make out any wings, and the two objects looked so close together that they thought of a possible collision. The sighting lasted less than a minute, until the objects left their field of view. The next day the witness sent GEIPAN a completed technical questionnaire, a panoramic photograph of the location taken about fifteen minutes after the event, and a sketch. GEIPAN received no other report of the sighting. Although there was no photo or video of the objects, the testimony was still rated as having good consistency.

A radar playback requested from CAPCODA proved hard to read because of an unsuitable scale. Data from the Globe.adsbexchange website showed that two airliners were crossing at 18:47 UTC in the direction the witness was looking, south-southeast. One was flying at about 12,200 m and almost 40 km from the witness, the other at about 11,300 m and almost 52 km away. From the balcony they appeared at elevations of roughly 17° and 12°, only about 5° apart, which could create the impression of converging paths even though the aircraft were at different altitudes on independent routes. The witness had estimated the elevation at between 30° and 45°, in line with the common overestimation of low angles.

At that distance, wings blend into the fuselage, and sunlight reflections can distort the perceived shape. The very bright white matches white fuselages lit by the Sun, and the apparent curve of the path may be a perspective effect. GEIPAN classified the case as A: observation of two airliners.