Sighting in Mauguio, August 17, 2015

At 7:04 a.m., a witness saw a very bright white object shaped somewhat like an airship. It moved at a steady speed and at high altitude, then gradually faded from view toward the south. The sighting lasted one minute. The witness filmed it with their mobile phone and remained puzzled by it.

GEIPAN's analysis of the video shows an airliner flying at cruising altitude. The atmosphere was stable, which explains why no condensation trail formed. Such stability also favors atmospheric scattering: the parts of the aircraft that stayed in shadow, or were less well lit by the sun than the fuselage, blended into the blue of the sky and seemed to vanish. Here the wings were no longer visible, which produced the airship-like appearance.

Because the analysis was carried out too late, flight recordings could not be consulted to confirm the aircraft's presence and identity. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: probable misidentification of an airplane.