Sighting in Nice, July 27, 2013

At 11:47 p.m., a couple watched a flashing light cross a clear sky. Through binoculars, it looked round and amber in colour, and it flashed at regular intervals. They heard no sound. The object came in from the south of the city and moved north, then made a gentle, steady turn towards the west of the city and the Var. Only one account was collected.

The investigation found that the description has all the features of an aircraft: several unsynchronised flashing lights (anti-collision lights and strobes at 1 Hz) often give the impression of flashing twice per second, and the trajectory is consistent with that of a plane. However, GEIPAN dealt with the case too late to check this hypothesis against radar traces. Since the witness also seemed to reject the idea of an aircraft, GEIPAN classified the case C, for lack of sufficient information.