Sighting in Marseille, October 28, 2012

At around 10 a.m., under a clear sky, the witness was on their balcony, facing west. They watched an object moving slowly across the sky. It was cylindrical, shiny and silver in appearance, with a small red halo on its left side. The witness went indoors to fetch a camera, but when they came back about 15 seconds later, the object had vanished. They had noticed no sound and no smoke. The witness put the length of the sighting at 3 minutes. No other testimony was collected.

According to the investigation, the steady red light on the left of the "cigar" and the sun behind the witness fit an aircraft lit by sunlight. From the witness's drawing, a fuselage seen side-on could explain why no wings were visible. The 3-minute duration seems exaggerated, since the witness's field of view, about 35°, was too narrow for such a long sighting. The sky above the location is crossed by many air routes and is full of contrails. The witness found the case strange because of the missing wings and the quick disappearance. The lack of other witnesses and the interrupted observation reduce that strangeness. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probably an aircraft.