Sighting in Morez, August 11, 1988

Two trainee soldiers were bivouacking in a forest, far from any stray light, when they noticed white flashes in the night sky at around 12:50 a.m. They then saw an elongated shape move silently at a speed that surprised them. One of them, who knew Mirage aircraft well, judged it faster than a Mirage F1 and thought the lights too intense for an aircraft. This witness also had the impression of a sinusoidal movement. The other described a straight path, but an irregular one, the shape climbing and descending fairly quickly. The object seemed to stop, then drop toward the ground and disappear behind the landscape.

The gendarmerie was alerted but found no other witnesses. The case, first classed D, was re-examined by GEIPAN. According to the investigation, each odd feature can be explained by an aircraft and its anticollision lights. At night, with no fixed reference, speed cannot be judged, and the lack of noise depends on many unknown factors. Eyes accustomed to darkness perceive any bright light as very intense. Lights placed far apart on an aircraft, seen from a certain angle, can create the illusion of a sinusoidal motion. The apparent stop followed by a "descent" matches a plane gaining a little altitude while heading toward the witnesses, then moving away behind the trees. Five airports lie within 120 km. Angular and timing data are missing, so the consistency is poor. GEIPAN therefore classed the case B: sighting of an aircraft.