Sighting in Méthamis, October 1, 2022

From the west-facing terrace of their home, the witness noticed three white, circular shapes that looked like faint halos. They sat fairly low above the horizon, to the west-southwest. They moved quickly, first from right to left and then back and forth in both directions, crossing and avoiding one another at the same altitude within an area of about 20° of the horizon. This went on for about 5 minutes with no slowing, even when the shapes changed direction. The witness did not describe how the phenomenon ended.

Alerted by the witness, two other people about 1 km away watched the phenomenon for the last two minutes. They did not report their sighting to the GEIPAN. There are no photos or videos, and the consistency of the case was rated medium because the account rests on a single reporting witness.

The investigation confirmed the witness's own hypothesis of a skytracer (laser searchlight) and explained what had struck them as odd, namely the lack of visible beams. The round shape, halo effect, white color and low brightness match impact spots on low clouds. The air was very clear (60 km visibility), so there were few or no suspended particles to make the beam visible, while patches of mist could have caught the light. The fast, regular, non-stop back-and-forth movement is typical of an automated system. A Saturday evening suits this kind of festive or commercial use. Such projectors can reach 20 km or more, and Avignon lay along the line of sight. The investigator could not find the exact location of the projector, but the hypothesis remains very probable. The case was classified A.