Sighting in Moselle, October 15, 2014

On the night of 15 October 2014, two witnesses, each in a separate vehicle, saw red and green lights that did not blink, surrounding a dark round shape. The object was about 100 metres above the ground, was estimated at 7 to 10 metres in size, and moved in a straight line. The first witness saw it around 22:35 near Vescheim; the second saw it around 23:45 between Vescheim and Vilsberg. Each sighting lasted about a minute.

The initial investigation found no plausible explanation. The strangeness was rated high and the consistency strong, since two witnesses gave detailed descriptions, so the case was classified D, unexplained. It was reviewed again in 2020, using new tools and the experience gained over the years.

On 22 October 2020 at 19:11, one of the investigators happened to see an aircraft surrounded by a green halo. Searches online, then enquiries with the Centre National des Opérations Aériennes (CNOA), established that it was an NH90 combat helicopter, some of which have green LED rotors. The nearby 1er HRC base at Phalsbourg had recently received four of these aircraft. The two witnesses therefore most probably saw a military helicopter manoeuvring at very low altitude on a night mission. The case remains highly consistent, though its consistency score fell from 0.8 to 0.7 after the scoring scales were revised. GEIPAN classifies the case as B: probable sightings of an NH90 combat helicopter.