Sighting in Menton, May 20, 2013

At around 4:05 p.m. on a Monday, the witness was lying on the beach when something out over the sea caught their attention. In what they described as a clear sky, they saw an elongated white object at the centre of a translucent, perfectly round, concentric halo. They could not estimate how far away it was as it passed over the water.

The phenomenon moved from west to east-south-east, much faster than an aeroplane in the witness's view, and made no sound. The sighting lasted 10 to 15 seconds, after which it vanished into the distance. This was the only account collected.

Local weather records showed a partly cloudy sky, possibly hazy, which did not quite match the witness's description. The investigation raised the possibility of an aircraft seen within a luminous halo caused by sunlight reflecting off its fuselage, an atmospheric optical effect known as a Brocken spectre. However, the available information did not allow this to be confirmed, and the speed the witness described was not consistent with that of an aircraft. With no photograph, no corroborating testimony and no measurements, GEIPAN classified the case C, for lack of information.