Sighting in Nice, September 11, 2021

Shortly before 1 a.m., a witness at home in a third-floor apartment noticed a very bright, motionless light at treetop level, in the direction of a hill. They watched it with the naked eye and photographed it, then stopped observing about an hour later. Another person present that night said the light was still there around 4 a.m., but chose not to give a statement. No other testimony was collected.

GEIPAN rated the consistency of the account as excellent. The witness had carried out their own inquiry and measured the line of sight precisely, which placed the light above a rental villa. Calculations put it roughly 10 to 15 m above the ground. The villa's garden has a flat, open area well suited to setting up a telescopic mast, right in the line of observation.

The investigation concluded that the witness had probably seen powerful floodlights mounted on a mast. The light looked like construction-site floodlights, was extremely bright, and neither changed in appearance nor moved throughout the observation. It was the night from a Saturday to a Sunday, a time suited to a party, although no trace of an event was found at the property, and neighbours may have been used to such occasional gatherings. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probably lighting from mast-mounted floodlights.