Sighting in Nogent-sur-Marne, October 12, 2017

Shortly before 6:30 a.m., the witness was at the kitchen window when they noticed a very bright phenomenon in the sky, made up of about ten blue objects moving downward along a slanting path. The sighting lasted only one to two seconds, after which the phenomenon disappeared behind the trees. No other witness came forward, and there is no photograph.

The description could suggest either a fireball or a distress flare. The fireball was ruled out: the dedicated detection networks recorded nothing, and there were clouds in the direction where the phenomenon appeared. A distress flare fired by a private individual fits better, but this could not be confirmed because there was only one witness. It cannot have been a flare launched from the Nogent fort, close to where the sighting took place, since fireworks and flares are banned there.

The case, judged to have moderate strangeness and low consistency, is classified C by GEIPAN: reliable data are lacking to settle it, although the distress flare remains the preferred explanation.