Sighting in Noisy-le-Roi, August 8, 2013

At around 11:10 to 11:15 p.m., two people inside an apartment heard a fairly loud, steady noise. They then saw a dark, rectangular object pass at low altitude, which they could not identify. Red and white lights were visible on it.

Both witnesses gave statements to the gendarmerie and then to the GEIPAN, each with a detailed account and a sketch. No photos or video exist.

The investigation brought together several points: the lights, distance and size, which fit a military cargo aircraft; the noise typical of such a plane; its grey colour; its indefinable shape against the night sky; and a matching air route that this aircraft had already used. The GEIPAN concluded that it was very probably an A400M on approach to the Vélizy-Villacoublay aerodrome. The case is very well documented and not very strange: the object was an ordinary one, seen under unusual conditions. It was classified B, a very probable sighting of a military cargo aircraft.